


Dashed Hopes and Dangerous Histories

by Pierulestheworld



Series: A Gift and a Curse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: Female Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Gen, Video Game: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, hogwarts mystery rewrite, vaguely hinted at penny x mc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2020-09-26 05:10:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20384206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pierulestheworld/pseuds/Pierulestheworld
Summary: Lilith Brooks had a normal life--and then everything went wrong. Her father left, her brother disappeared, and her mother went catatonic. Lili is relieved when she gets her Hogwarts acceptance letter, and sees it as a chance to make her life return to what it once was. But Hogwarts was built on secrets, and one is demanding Lili find it.A Hogwarts Mystery rewrite featuring my MC. Year One.





	1. The Journey Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Oh wow, I haven't written HP fanfic in like....5 years! But I recently got the Hogwarts Mystery app and I was hooked. It has a pretty intriguing story, but is bogged down by a lot of filler and underused characters, and I was pretty quickly motivated to write my own version of it. /Somehow/, in about 3 weeks I managed to do a total rewrite of year one, and have started on year two. I hope I can do all seven years (even if 7th year isn't out yet and 6th year has just started) but who knows if my attention span will last that long.
> 
> So yes. This story is complete. It will probably update about 2 or 3 times a week, depending on my school schedule and if I remember to edit and update it (I forget things a lot whoops). Find drawings of Lili and other stuff on her at my hphm tumblr, cursebreaker-lilith!
> 
> Also this story will be mostly wholly original writing, but there are some bits where I did like the dialogue and paraphrased. In this chapter, the bit at the end with Ollivander has some quotes from the game.

Lili finished copying over the checklist and set her pen down on the desk. She folded the paper in half, then put both the paper and the two pieces of parchment she had been copying from into a small coin purse just to her left. She grabbed the coin purse, got up from her desk, and turned around to survey the room with her hands on her hips.

Her room was a fairly small one but cluttered with trinkets that held value to only Lili. The wall above the desk was full of photographs, some of which moved, some of which didn’t. The desk itself, alongside the two other dressers in the room, were covered in small knick-knack type items and interesting things Lili had picked up on walks. The bed, a small thing filled with blankets and pillows of various shades of purple and orange, was hastily made, the bottom most blanket just pulled up to the edge of the pillows. Thrown on the comforter was a plain brown rucksack. In the middle of the floor was an open chest, which had a few things thrown in it, but was mostly empty.

Lili took a deep breath and picked the rucksack up, settling the strap securely on her shoulder. She turned and walked out of the room and down the hall, resolutely ignoring the closed door that was next to hers.

It was only when she reached the kitchen downstairs that she stopped looking forward and turned her head to look back up the stairs.

“Mum, I’m going to Diagon Alley!” She called out, hoping her mother would answer.

She didn’t.

Lili adjusted the rucksack again. She desperately tried to ignore how hurt she felt that her mother had left Lili to fend for herself the past two years, and left the house, head held high.

“Hey, Lili! Hey!”

She had only gotten down the steps of their building when she heard her name. For a fleeting second, Lili hoped it might have been her mother calling out to her, but she knew it wasn’t. Her mother only ever called her Lilith.

Her friend Jenny, a muggle who lived two houses down, was jogging up the sidewalk. Her black hair was curling everywhere and only held back by a neon pink scrunchie which matched her neon pink mini skirt and leggings.

“Hey, where you going?” Jenny asked, grinning brightly. “I was thinking we could hang today, watch whatever’s on the telly.”

Lili shook her head; she was genuinely sad she couldn’t sit around the TV with her closest friend watching awful daytime television. “I can’t. Mum’s doing dark room stuff for her photos today, so she asked me to get some things from the store while she was busy.” She shifted feet uncomfortably. There was something she hadn’t told Jenny yet, and she wasn’t sure how her friend would take the news. “I also needed to stop by some clothing store to pick up a package. My uniform for the school I’m going to in September.”

She said the last bit faster, slurring the words together a little faster, but Jenny, a fast talker herself, got the meaning.

“Woah, why would you need to buy a uniform by post? I just had to down to Asda to get mine for—”

“I’m not going to a school in London.”

Jenny stared at her, unblinking. “You’re joking. Totally joking. Where are you going then?”

Lili shifted again, uncomfortable with what was about to be a huge half lie to her only friend.

“You know my grandmother,” Jenny made a face here; Lili had many stories about how finnicky her grandmother was. “Anyways, she went to this old-fashioned boarding school, and her parents went there and their parents, and so did my mum, and now she’s saying I have to go there or else we’ll be taken out of the will or something.”

“Totally mental.”

“Completely.”

That was a lie. She was going to Hogwarts because she was a witch and needed to learn how to use magic, something that the regular muggle school Jenny was going to couldn’t do. But Jenny didn’t know about magic, so Lili had to lie, even if she felt awful doing it.

“Ugh, that’s awful though, boarding school? Away from everyone you know? I would throw a fit for days if I had to do that, but I suppose your grandma is a bit of a hardcase, if everything I’ve heard about her is true.”

Lili nodded. “And it’s in Scotland, too.”

Jenny’s nose scrunched up. “Scotland? You poor thing.”

They both laughed. Giving a small smile, glad that hadn’t gone horribly wrong, Lili continued walking down the sidewalk. “Anyways, we had to order from a catalog since we weren’t going to drive to Scotland, and now I need to pick it up.”

Jenny sighed. “Well, I’ll just imagine you’re there then when I’m watching the Olympics. _That’s_ been a great watch so far, let me tell you.”

Lili laughed. “Tell me when gymnastics is on, and we can give our own scores to their routines then.”

“Totally!” With that, Lili waved goodbye to her friend and continued down the street.

Lili regretted all the half lies she had to tell Jenny, but ever since her Dad, she knew she couldn’t trust muggles with the secret of the wizarding world. They couldn’t handle it and then they left. Of course, everyone left Lili, muggle or wizard. She had always had Jenny before, but that conversation would be the beginning of the end of them being close, and soon they’d drift apart. Lili would be on her own, totally and completely alone.

As she walked to the Leaky Cauldron, Lili made sure to tail behind couples. In the past two years, she’d learned that no one questioned a kid being on their own if people that looked like potential parents were around. Lili had been using this to her advantage any time she had to walk to the store or take the Underground.

Soon enough, she ditched the third couple she was trailing after and headed onto Charring Cross Road. The Leaky Cauldron stood out as always, and Lili snuck in as two laughing wizards walked out.

The pub was moderately full. It was around one o’clock, so most workers on their lunch hour had left to go back to work, but there was still a crowd. Lili kept to the walls and wound her way to the back, where the opening to Diagon Alley was.

She had to pause when she got to the little courtyard in the back. A wand was needed to open the alleyway, and a wand was what she was going to get with this visit, along with her other school supplies.

“Poor girl,” she heard someone say quietly behind her.

Lili turned to look at the speaker. It was a blonde waitress, who seemed to have been walking by the open courtyard and noticed a small girl standing in it. Lili suddenly turning around to stare made her blink, but she smiled kindly.

“Need some help, dearie?”

Lili smiled “Yes, please. My mum went through, but I dropped something out on the street and had to go get it, and well,” she pointed at the wall, “the arch closed.”

She’d already said enough lies to Jenny this morning, what was another lie to a stranger?

The waitress smiled indulgently and tapped the right bricks with her wand. “There you go sweetheart, go find your mum.”

“Thank you!” Lili waved at the waitress and walked through the opening in the wall and into Diagon Alley.

The Diagon Alley of the present was much different from the Diagon Alley of Lili’s earliest memories. Back then, the war against You-Know-Who had been at its worst point. Buildings had been boarded up, people rushed from store to store, and she had seen very few children. Then, again, she had only been to Diagon Alley twice during the war—once with her mother when she had needed items for her dark room process and didn’t have anyone to watch over Lili, and then when Jacob had gotten his supplies for Hogwarts. For all Lili knew, she could’ve just visited on bad days, but she somehow doubted it.

She hadn’t gone to Diagon Alley much in the three years after the war either. Her and her mother lived more like muggles than most wizards, and so they didn’t really need supplies often. But even then, Lili could tell the difference from those hazy memories to the Diagon Alley she saw in front of her.

There were no more boarded up buildings, and color and cheer had come back into the busy street. Groups went by, laughing and talking. Children stared at new broom models or at pets. People sat outside and took their time getting around. There wasn’t any fear anymore.

Lili reached into her rucksack and rummaged around for the coin purse. The sack was the one her mother used for shopping; there was an Undetectable Extension Charm on the bag, and her mum had stuffed a chest into it, which would really help when Lili needed to drag around the larger school supplies on the list.

She finally found the coin purse and took out her checklist, her Hogwarts supply list, and a pen. Of course, her checklist and the supply list were the same thing, but she didn’t want to write on her supply list. It was too clean and crisp looking, so she had made a checklist she could scribble all over.

Easiest to get first would be her books. Off to Flourish and Blotts she went, scratching every book off on her list as she held them in a precarious pile and went to the counter.

The cashier looked mildly out of it, as he stared at the eleven-year-old in front of him. “Where’s your parents, little miss?”

“Getting potions supplies,” she replied.

She repeated those words every time the cashier asked her that. Why weren’t they at her robe fitting? Getting her books. Not helping her carry her cauldron? Busy paying for her robes.

Soon, Lili had everything but her wand crossed off the list. She sat on the ground between two stores, cauldron next to her, and puzzled at how she would get her cauldron into her rucksack. She would have to, to be able to travel on muggle transportation, but she wouldn’t be able to put the cauldron in by herself. She could ask someone, but then they’d ask about her parents and why they didn’t help, and she didn’t want anyone prying into her life.

“Hi! Are you an incoming Hogwarts student too?”

Lili whipped her head up, surprised to hear someone talk to her. Standing over her was a girl her age, with brown skin and dark hair. She had large glasses and a large grin.

“Uhm…” Lili hadn’t expected anyone to talk to her while she sat on the ground. She scrambled to make words come out of her mouth, but the girl beat her to it.

“I’m Rowan Khanna, and I’m going to Hogwarts this year! I thought you might be too considering you have a cauldron. You could, of course, be an older student whose cauldron fell apart, but you don’t look that old. I mean, your hair is pretty white, but it’s more blonde-white than old-person-white, and I’ve read that it’s mainly young children who have that hair color and it goes away by your teenage years.”

“Er…”

Rowan covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, I’m sorry! Was I rambling? I do that. I’m told I’m weird for doing that.”

Lili blinked owlishly. “It’s fine. I’m used to friends who do that,” she said, thinking of Jenny, who indeed was a rambler.

Rowan’s eyes lit up at the word _friend_. “Oh, does that mean we can be friends?”

“Er, sure.”

“I’ve never had a friend, this is great!” Rowan’s grin became a less strange looking smile. “I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to make friends a Hogwarts, but I’ve made one before I even got on the train! Awesome!”

“Yeah,” Lili said, still valiantly trying to keep up with the conversation. She really was reminded of Jenny, but of the Jenny she had met years ago, when they had started primary school together.

Rowan pointed at the cauldron. “Do you need help carrying that? I can get something to help with it.”

Finally, a conversation point she understood! “Yeah!” Lili abruptly stood up. “I have something, but I couldn’t get it in by myself. If you could hold the bag open, then hold the chest lid open, I can carry it fine then.”

Rowan cheerfully did as she said and peered into the bag. “An Extendable Charm!” She sounded delighted. “How useful.”

Lili nodded. “Yeah, this is the bag my mom uses for shopping and she let me use it today.”

Rowan continued to peer into the chest, ignoring Lili stuffing the cauldron in. “Where is your mom then? Why couldn’t she help you?”

Lili froze in a panic. Rowan could see that she had all her books, robes, and items except for a wand. She wouldn’t buy Lili’s previous excuses.

“Uh, she’s, uhm, doing some of her own shopping. Told me to put the cauldron in the bag, then go buy my wand myself.”

Luckily, Rowan nodded. “Divvy up the shopping. Smart. Time efficient.”

“Yeah.” Lili nodded along, exhausted from all the lying she’d done that day and glad to let someone else lie for her.

With the cauldron in, Lili closed the rucksack and settled it back on her shoulder. “Well—”

“So, you’re getting a wand next?”

Lili held in a sigh. She wanted to get home. “Yeah.”

“My family works with Ollivander a lot! We own a tree farm and he comes every three months or so to see what trees would work well as wands. How wands are made is actually a really fascinating subject, I’ve read lots about it alongside listening to Ollivander and—”

“There you are, Rowan!”

A woman who resembled a much older Rowan without glasses hurried up to the two girls. Lili shuffled uncomfortably. She really wanted to get home.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere! I thought I told you to stay outside the Apothecary.”

“Sorry, Mum.” Rowan looked chastised for all of three seconds before smiling again. “It’s just that I saw someone who was maybe also gonna be in my year at Hogwarts and wanted to try to make a friend! And this is my friend, uh…” A blush appeared on Rowan’s dark skin. “Oh. I never asked for your name.”

Despite her exhaustion, Lili giggled. “Lilith Brooks. Or just Lili.”

Rowan turned back to her mum. “This is Lili!”

Mrs. Khanna smiled, but Lili noticed it was slightly strained. Lili’s heart sank; this woman must have read the articles written in the Daily Prophet two years ago and recognized her last name. “Nice to meet you, Lili.” She turned her attention to her daughter. “But we really must go now, say your goodbyes and meet me by the Floo station.”

With that, Mrs. Khanna turned on her heel and walked off, obviously confident her daughter would listen.

Rowan sighed. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Lili. Maybe we can meet up at the Hogwarts Express?”

“Nice meeting you too, Rowan. And sure. I’ll be there early, so it’ll be easy to find me on the train.”

Lili waved as Rowan grinned and ran through the crowds towards her mother. Rowan was a tad forceful, and more than a bit oblivious, but she was nice, and she really did remind Lili of Jenny when she was younger. It would be nice to have a friend at Hogwarts too.

Lili made her way through Diagon Alley, ready to go to Ollivanders, then home.

She had vague memories of Ollivanders shop from six years ago, but memories didn’t do the atmosphere of the shop justice. It was small and dusty and piled from floor to ceiling with boxes of wands. Lili felt both cramped and awed.

“Another first year ready to buy their first wand, hm?”

Lili swirled around, really getting tired of people speaking to her when her back was turned. She straightened when she saw the old man. “Er—yes. I am here for that.”

“Hmmm.” Ollivander’s continuing stare unnerved Lili. He moved away suddenly, reaching for a nearby box, and Lili jerked backwards.

“Apple wood with dragon heart string, nine inches, rigid. Try it.” Ollivander deftly took the wand out and put it in Lili’s hands.

Lili stood awkwardly for a second, unsure what to do with the wand suddenly thrust upon her. Ollivander mimed waving the wand, so she did that. All the papers on Ollivanders front desk flew through the air and onto the ground, causing a large amount of dust to stir up. Lili sneezed.

“I’m so sorry, sir—”

Ollivander had a strange, breathy laugh. “It is no problem. The wand chooses the wizard, and that was not your right wand. Those papers fly away once an hour, and I remember your brother exploding my favorite inkpot with his first attempt.”

Lili inhaled sharply and dropped the wand. She bent down and picked it up immediately, staring at Ollivander. “You remember that?” She only had vague memories of the day they had bought Jacob’s wand, but she did remember an explosion.

The old wand maker darted forward and snatched the wand from her. He turned it over in his hands as he spoke. “I remember every wand I sell, Ms. Brooks. Maple wood, dragon heartstring core, ten inches. It was a fine wand, and a great shame they had to snap it when he was expelled.”

Lili said nothing. She couldn’t say anything. It had been two years since anyone had brought up Jacob’s expulsion in front of her, and she didn’t know how to react.

“Yes,” Ollivander was continuing, ignoring the glare forming on the young girl in front of him. “I heard he ran away and went missing shortly after, too. What a shame, what a shame… From all accounts, he had potential.”

Lili glared forcefully at the elderly wizard, but he paid her no mind. In fact, he came closer, staring intently into her eyes and she glowered at him for bringing her brother up.

“Yes, yes…. And how did you feel about it, Ms. Brooks? It must have had a profound impact on you?”

Lili wanted to hit Ollivander, but years of being raised to be polite held her hand down. Instead, she jerked backwards, away from the wandmaker, and crossed her arms. She was shaking. How dare he bring up Jacob? Bring up his expulsion and disappearance? He didn’t know anything about it, didn’t know anything about Jacob.

“I was angry! I _am_ angry! Expelling Jacob was unfair, and it was completely wrong of him to run away without telling us!” _Without telling me_, she thinks. She doesn’t add that he ran away the day after her birthday. That outburst was more honesty on the subject than she’d ever said before, and she didn’t want to say more. She might cry if she did. She took a deep breath and decided to continue on the abrasive track. Ollivander and this whole day were getting to her. “Now, I came here for a wand, not to talk about my brother. Do your job already!”

Ollivander finally leaned away. “Hm…. Yes. That helped immensely. I feel the next wand will suit you.” He turned and went scouring through boxes mumbling to himself.

Lili hugged herself as he did. Before she had been exhausted physically, now she was exhausted emotionally. She thought about Jacob all the time, every day, every hour, but no one ever spoke of him. It was like he was dead. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes and she hastily wiped them away. She didn’t like tears. She’d pick anger over tears any day, but she was too tired for anger.

Ollivander returned, gently taking a dark colored wand from a box. “Blackthorn, very unusual wand wood there. Unicorn hair core, eleven-and-a-quarter inches, slightly springy and flexible.”

Lili took the wand from him and waved it. A gentle swirl of golden sparks came from the wand and flowed around her three times before disappearing.

Ollivander nodded, a strange smile on his face. “Yes, yes, I thought so. The warrior’s wood for you. There’s quite the fighter in you… and I don’t doubt you could pass your brother’s reputation. I look forward to seeing what path you choose, Lilith Brooks.”


	2. Welcome to Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> September 1st in real life, September 1st in the fic! I had to, lol
> 
> Note: some of McGonagall's speech about the Sorting is taken from the first book. I figured McGonagall doesn't change her speech up much from year to year.

The summer holidays went by quickly. Lili spent most of her time with Jenny, watching the Olympics on the telly, and playing outside with the neighbourhood kids who didn’t mind the two of them. Soon though, September 1st arrived.

Lili woke up to a silent house. Then again, the house had always been silent for the past two years.

She swung her feet over the edge of the bed, nervous despite everything. By nightfall, she’d be at Hogwarts starting her magical education.

_Wonder what house I’ll be in_, she thought idly as she walked to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Some families thought the house you were sorted in to be very important, but Lili, thankfully, didn’t have that pressure. Her mother and grandfather had both been in Ravenclaw, her grandmother and brother were Slytherins, and her uncle was a Gryffindor. Any house would do for her family, though she knew her grandmother would prefer another Slytherin in the family. Grandma Silvia was a batty old pureblood who minded that sort of thing.

Those thoughts carried her through her shower and through getting dressed. She put on her favorite lavender jumper and tucked it into a pair of jean shorts belted at her waist; both for the comfort of wearing her favorite clothing during a new experience, and for the physical comfort of wearing worn in clothing to travel. Her fine, pale blonde hair was only shoulder length and rather thin, but she pulled half of it into a ponytail at the top of her head so it wouldn’t be everywhere while she dragged her school trunk around.

As she walked back to her room, arms full of the lavatory items she needed to pack into her trunk, she went still when she noticed that the door next to hers was slightly open. The hair on the back of her neck rose slightly, and she knew she was being stupid, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she saw that door open, she always had the fleeting thought that it meant her brother would be there. Be home.

Lili carefully set all her items on the floor and quietly opened the door to Jacob’s room.

It was the same as he had left it, almost two full years ago. The bed half made and the comforter falling to the ground. His school trunk had been thrown haphazardly on the floor and had skidded against the rug, causing it to bunch up against the trunk. There were few personal items on his desk—he hadn’t ever been a collector of mementos like Lili was.

Her eye was drawn to the trunk, which hadn’t been closed or even looked at since Jacob left. On a red and teal quilt was a black lump.

Lili closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She knew that the cat was what she would find. It’s what she had found every time before this. Yet, she always expected a different outcome.

She wrapped her arms around herself and hugged herself tightly, trying to calm down. This was meant to be a good day. She was going to Hogwarts, and getting away from her mother. This had to be a good day. Please.

“I thought we told you to stop doing this,” she mumbled to her cat as she opened her eyes. She reached for Alfred, but the notoriously skittish and touch adverse cat jumped from the trunk and ran from the room.

Lili sighed and, not even looking at what was in the trunk, walked back out of the room.

She finished with her packing, took one long, last look at her room and walked out with her head held high. She squashed down all the nerves; she had to be resolute.

To Lili’s surprise, her mother was in the kitchen with breakfast ready. She set her trunk down by the door and walked over to where the toast, eggs, and sausage were, her large eyes wider than usual in shock.

“Well, eat,” her mum said, gesturing towards the food as she waved her wand to make the dishes wash themselves.

The Brooks family lived in a wholly muggle neighbourhood. Originally, they had moved there because Lili’s father was a muggle and he wasn’t used to magic. Plus, there was a war going on in the wizarding world and pretending to be fully muggle was almost safer. You weren’t a target if they couldn’t find you. Her mother, despite being a pureblood raised around magic, had been fine with the arrangement. Figuring out how to do things the muggle way had been a challenge, but she had learned how to do it. When Dad left, Mum had insisted on keeping their house in the muggle neighbourhood. She had gotten too used to the muggle amenities and using her wand sparingly—she mainly only used magic to wash and dry the dishes, and to make photographs move in her dark room.

Lili ate quietly and quickly while her mother moved the trunk into the boot of the car. As she ate, she could hear her mother pace impatiently in the front hallway.

“Come along already, Lilith!” She called, after Lili had been eating for only five minutes.

Lili scarfed the rest of the food down as fast as she could, put her dirty dishes into the still self-cleaning sink and hurried outside.

“I’m coming, Mum,” Lili said as she bounded out the door, then skidded to a halt at the car parked on the street. “Wait, did you get Alfred?”

Her mum nodded shortly. “He’s in a carrier, in the backseat.”

Lili nodded back, and got in the back next to her brother’s cat. After buckling herself in, she opened the carrier to hold Alfred through the car ride. He was a bit of a scaredy-cat.

Like the house and like breakfast, the car ride was silent.

Carina Brooks wasn’t happy her daughter was heading off to Hogwarts. Once, years ago she had been excited to see her son off, but then he had gotten expelled and all her goodwill towards Britain’s foremost magical school had disappeared. Lili had had to fight for an entire month to go to the school. She had finally won the argument when she had threatened to write to her grandmother and tell _her_ that Lili was to be homeschooled. Her mother had backed down after that, but ever since she had been sullen and short tempered. Any time anything Hogwarts related came up, her mother refused to have anything to do with it, which is why Lili had gone to Diagon Alley by herself all those weeks ago.

King’s Cross Station brought some much needed noise. Mother and daughter were silent as they unloaded and loaded her school stuff out of the boot and onto a cart, but the station was bustling.

Passing through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾ went seamlessly and then Lili was staring at the beautifully red Hogwarts Express. She stared at it wide eyed, then tried to reign in her expression. She had been called bug eyed once when she was younger, and had been self-conscious ever since. There was no need for Lili to stare; she wasn’t a muggleborn, she had already seen the impressive train. She squared her shoulders. It would be fine.

“Well, this is it.” Her mother stopped and turned to look at her. “Behave yourself, Lilith.”

Lili nodded. “Of course, Mum.”

They hugged briefly, and that was it. Lili watched her mother walk back through the barrier and back into the muggle world. She stared a second longer, then began the task of dragging her trunk onto the train.

It took a while—her trunk was heavy, and Lili had the average strength of any other petit eleven-year-old—but she had arrived earlier than most people. There were only a few other families milling about, and next to no one else on the train. Luckily, that meant Lili had the pick of the crop when it came to choose where to sit. She picked a compartment close to the doors, sat down and took out _A Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_. She had close to three hours to kill until the train left, she might as well get some reading done.

She was so absorbed in reading about what she was going to learn in Charms, that she barely noticed as the train got louder and louder. It was only when her compartment door slammed open and she jumped a foot in the air that she realized it must be close to 11 o’clock.

“Lili!” Rowan was in the doorway, grinning.

Lili blinked, but let a smile grow on her face. “Hi, Rowan.”

She hadn’t spent much thought on the awkward girl after their first meeting, but Lili found herself glad that Rowan was here. Not being alone made the whole trip seem less daunting.

Lili helped Rowan drag her trunk in, then the two first years sat down.

“How was your summer? Mine was great! I’ve read all of our textbooks already and I can’t wait to start learning magic. I wonder how well I’m gonna be at it. Like, I read and study a lot but that doesn’t translate to skills! Well, I hope I do well, I’d be horribly upset if I didn’t. Oh! You were going to Ollivanders to get your wand when we met, right? Can I see it? My family owns a tree farm that gives wood to wandmakers and I love trying to guess people’s wand woods.”

Lili silently picked her wand up from beside her, and handed it over to Rowan who looked it over intently. “Blackthorn?”

“Yeah!” Lili was genuinely surprised Rowan had gotten it right.

Her friend beamed. “Oh, good! I usually get it right, but sometimes it can be hard to tell the darker wand woods apart, there are so many of them, you know, and…”

Rowan kept rambling, and Lili occasionally got a word in. The train began to fill up, and soon other first years were crowding into their carriage. Four boys wandered in making a lot of noise, while Rowan and Lili sat next to each other and giggled over whatever they could think to talk about.

Hours went by, the food trolley came and went, and the sky was beginning to darken.

“You know,” Lili said, staring out the window. “I never thought it would take this long to get there. We’ve been in here all day.”

“I wonder if they double back? So, you know, Hogwarts stays hidden?”

Lili tilted her head, thinking about it. “But I’ve heard it’s unplottable, wouldn’t that be all the hiding it needs.”

Rowan pushed her glasses back. “That means it can’t be put on a map, but it doesn’t mean you can’t notice the landmarks around the castle. Doubling back could help minimize that.”

“Fair enough,” Lili nodded.

An announcement came on then saying they would be at Hogwarts soon and luggage was to be left on the train. Lili and Rowan shooed out the four boys in their compartment so they could change, then waited politely outside as the boys changed. The train was rolling to a stop by the time the boys let them back in. Lili and Rowan looked at each and rolled their eyes. Boys.

The train jerked to a halt and Rowan fell back onto the seats, taking Lili with her. They watched as the boys filed out and joined the throng of students slowly pushing out of the train.

Lili clutched at Rowans arm as they made their way off. Of course, she didn’t want to lose Rowan in the crowd, but also her nervousness was back. If Rowan showed off nervousness by babbling, then Lili showed hers off by clinging.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here!” A booming voice rang out, and Lili stared bug eyed at a man twice her size holding a lantern.

“Well,” Rowan said, pushing her glasses up again. “I guess we follow him.”

Lili and Rowan used each other as support as they stumbled down a dark path following the giant man.

“Do you know what’s going on? Why we’re separated?” Rowan whispered as they stepped to avoid a rock.

Lili shook her head. “No clue.” Jacob had never mentioned this his first year.

“Alrigh’! We’ll be seein’ Hogwarts in a sec here!”

Lili looked towards the large man, but her stare was soon changed to the castle on the mountain. While it was incredibly cloudy, that didn’t detract from the atmosphere just seeing Hogwarts created. The castle stood against the dark sky, the windows glittering dots that almost seemed to be stars. Hogwarts was above a lake, and the reflection of the castle onto the lake, blurring it slightly and making it blend more into the clouds, was an even more impressive sight.

Rowan gasped next to her. “Oh, it’s so beautiful!”

“Righ’ then! No more’n four a boat! Get in alrigh’ there.”

Still clutching each other, Rowan and Lili stumbled towards a free boat and cautiously got in. It rocked slightly, but they didn’t tip over, to Lili’s relief. She’d never been in a boat before. Two more girls got in after them.

One was still dumbstruck, staring at the castle, but the other was all business.

“So, where do you think you’ll be sorted?” The girl had dark auburn hair and tan skin.

Rowan turned to look at her. “I think Ravenclaw would be great fun.”

The other girl wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“Then don’t.” Rowan turned to look at Lili. “Can’t believe I didn’t ask where you want to be sorted, I think we talked about literally everything but that…”

Lili giggled, because it was true. They had somehow avoided the topic of the Sorting in their hour’s long conversation. “I think anywhere is fine. Though I’ve gotten three letters from my grandma saying I better get into Slytherin, or else.”

“Oh, Slytherin.” The auburn hair girl said derisively. “I hope your grandmother knows she has terrible taste.”

Lili stared at this rude girl. “Well, I think you have terrible taste.”

“Yeah,” Rowan chimed in. “How rude!”

“Go be Dark wizards over in Slytherin, then! I’m going into Gryffindor, I know it.”

Before Lili could say something rude back, the fourth girl, who had blue eyes and white blonde hair even lighter than Lili’s own, chimed in. “What about Hufflepuff? I think all of the houses sound lovely. They all have their strengths.”

The auburn hair girl snorted, and their boat went quiet as they hit the shore.

Rowan reached out again, and Lili was relieved she wasn’t the only one benefitting from the close contact as they walked towards a looming Hogwarts.

Her friend was back into awe. “Oh, it’s so beautiful, I can’t wait…” She kept mumbling under her breathe, staring up at the castle.

Soon, they were standing in an entrance hall, with the large man replaced by an intimidating older woman called Professor McGonagall.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” she began. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place soon in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting in here."

She seemed to stare at a few boys in the crowd. “I shall return soon. Please wait here.”

Lili took this all in, bug eyed. Rowan was vibrating next to her.

“It’s happening, it’s actually happening…”

She looked at Rowan. “It really is…”

A shriek came through the crowd of first years, and several began pointing up.

“Ghosts!”

“Look at all ‘em!”

“Oh, they have those here too…”

“Yes, yes,” Professor McGonagall’s voice rang through the crowd. “There’s quite a few ghosts at Hogwarts, nothing to get worked up about. Now, let’s form a line and move along, the Sorting is about to begin.”

The children awkwardly did as she said, forming a disorganized line that went out of order every time a student gasped at some new wonder. It got worse as they entered the Great Hall, as everything in the cavernous room was a new wonder. The hushed gasps from the first years seemed to cause amusement from the other students, as Lili heard some laughter and amused comments as the youngest students were ushered in.

She was so busy staring at the crowd and at the ceiling—or was that the sky?—that she was startled when a song about the four founders of Hogwarts and their houses resounded through the hall.

Lili stared at the singing hat. _Jacob never mentioned that_.

There was applause as the hat finished and Professor McGonagall took out two sheets of parchment. “When I call your name, please come forward to sit on the stool and put the hat on to be sorted. Ali, Badeea!”

A small waif of a girl with wavy dark brown hair walked forward. The hat was barely on her head for second before it called out, “RAVENCLAW!”

The Ravenclaw table cheered loudly at getting the first Sorting of the night, and the girl ran to the table decked out in blue.

“Allen, Amita!”

The auburn-haired girl from the boat ride ran forward and then quickly ran to a cheering Gryffindor table.

“Well, I’m not going to Gryffindor then.” Lili mumbled to Rowan, who nodded back.

Lili was surprised Rowan didn’t say anything back, but she seemed very focused on the Sorting Ceremony. Lili knew she needed to focus in too; Brooks would be called very soon.

The next two students went to Ravenclaw, then Barrows, Vidalia was the first to go to Slytherin while Bennett, Arramia was the first Hufflepuff. Benvenuti, Dana and Billingsley, Jean both went to Gryffindor and then—

“Brooks, Lilith!”

Hushed mutterings went through the crowd.

“Brooks? As in Jacob Brooks?”

“He never mentioned a sister—”

“Not another one—”

Lili noticed even a few teachers looked over at her with interest as she walked towards the hat, willing herself not to blush. Obviously, everyone remembered her brother. She put the hat on.

“Ah,” a voice whispered in her ear. “You are as easy as your brother was. Perhaps even easier. SLYTHERIN!”

The Slytherin table did not seem happy. Lili would bet that she got the least amount of applause of any new student that night. All the Slytherins remembered her brother, and how he had besmirched their house’s name by getting himself expelled. Lili refused to cave in on herself. She could do this.

She didn’t hear the name of the next kid, but the Slytherin table perked up when he also was Sorted there. Lili noticed he sat away from her.

She settled in to watch the Sorting, now that the worst part was over. Caplan, Diego was the first of a string of Hufflepuff’s, while Karasu, Tulip ended a string of Ravenclaw Sortings. Lili held her breath as Khanna, Rowan was called out.

Then let it out again, as Rowan stayed on the seat for over three minutes and Lili didn’t want to pass out. Those three minutes felt like forever but eventually—

“SLYTHERIN!”

Lili shrieked as she clapped in excitement and Rowan beamed at her as she ran to the table.

“It couldn’t decide between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, and it asked me, and I said Slytherin since you were there, oh, I’m so excited! I hope we’re rooming together!”

Lili looped her arm around Rowan’s arm and leaned slightly against her as the Sorting continued. Kim, Jae took almost as long as Rowan before heading to Gryffindor, and the silver haired girl from the boat turned out to be Lobosca, Chiara, who went to Hufflepuff.

The Sorting continued, and now Lili was beginning to feel hungry. _At least I get to sit_, she thought as she looked at the dwindling number of first years, all still standing.

All the names started to blur together, and Lili instinctively began to clap whenever she felt the Slytherins around her clapping.

A break from the monotony came as the last few students were being Sorted.

“Tonks, Nymphadora!”

A cheerful looking brunette ran forward but tripped on her own robes halfway there, and skidded towards the hat. Laughter rang through the Hall, but the girl didn’t seem upset. She stood up, tripping over her robes again in the process, and grinned at the concerned professors.

“I’m fine! I just want to say that you all _have _to call me Tonks. Anyone who calls me Nymphadora is getting hexed!”

More laughter erupted in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall gave her a disapproving look. “Please sit, Ms. Tonks.”

She grinned and sat down, and through all the laughter in the Hall, people barely heard her sorted into Hufflepuff.

There was a pause as Tuttle, Liz took some time to get sorted into Slytherin, but Weasley, Charles and Winger, Talbott both took no time in being Sorted into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively.

Dumbledore stood up then, and the Great Hall instantly went quiet. He smiled kindly at all the students, but Lili stared coldly back at him. So, this was the man who expelled her brother. She told herself she wasn’t impressed.

“Welcome! Welcome all to Hogwarts! These past few years has been filled with turmoil, so I’m proud to see so many new witches and wizards before me.” A twinkle came in Dumbledore’s eyes, and Lili crossed her arms. “But that also means a longer Sorting Ceremony than usual, so I think I’ll save the speech for after the food, yes?”

He sat down and everyone cheered, though Lili thought most of the cheering had to do with the food that suddenly appeared in front of everyone, not because his speech was particularly impressive.


	3. Dealing with Trouble

“Slytherin first years, please follow us.” A calm and impassive voice called out. Most of the students were filing out of the Great Hall, yawning and talking loudly to friends. Two older students stood still, calmly looking at the first years at the front of the table. One was a tall boy, with neatly parted hair and sharp cheekbones. The other was a tan girl, with curly, ink black hair.

“I’m Felix Rosier, and this is Maria Silverspell. We’re your fifth-year Prefects and we’ll be showing you to your home for the next seven years. Now follow us closely.”

The first years did as told, and followed silently behind the two Prefects. Rowan slipped her arm through Lili’s and Lili smiled, glad Rowan seemed to be as fond of physical contact as she was.

The group headed down, and the air turned colder.

“Our common room is down in the dungeons,” Maria said, answering Lili’s unsaid question about where they were headed.

The two Prefects led them deeper down, and then stopped in front of a bare wall. Felix turned to look at them. “This is the entrance. It doesn’t look like much, but that’s what keeps it so well hidden from the other houses. No non-Slytherin has been in the common room in 700 years, and we’d like to keep it that way, thank you.”

Maria took over. “The password changes every two weeks, so be sure to always check the noticeboard on Monday mornings. No one will take pity on you if you forget the password. Wolfsbane.”

_Wolfsbane_ seemed to be the password for the first two weeks of school as the bricks in the wall peeled back, similar to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

The Prefects went in, and the first years followed. Lili was suitably impressed by what she saw. The walls reached high above, and a giant window took up one wall showcasing a view of the lake they had crossed over earlier. There were several fireplaces throughout the room, warming it up. Desks were scattered throughout, as were comfy looking green armchairs. A dim green glow seemed to light the room. While a few students were casually talking in the common room, most seemed to be heading through one of two open archways. Lili presumed that those were the girl’s and boy’s dormitories respectively.

A gasp went up from the first year group, and Lili looked out the window to see a giant squid swam by. Her mouth dropped open.

Felix seemed annoyed by their awe. “Ignore the giant squid, he does that every year to show off. And you’ll be seeing him frequently anyways, he likes to stop by.”

“Stop by, like he’s coming over for tea. That’s a bloody squid!” A boy whispered behind her, and she stifled a laugh.

“Anyways,” Maria said, raising her voice slightly. “You’ll be rooming with three to four other students. Girls go that way, boys that way. If you have any questions, come to me or Felix. You’re free to leave now.”

With that, the group broke apart. Most of the first years started to head to bed, and Lili watched Felix and Maria join four other Prefects by a fireplace.

“Oh, isn’t this so exiting, Lili?” Rowan was bouncing, and ignoring the stares in her direction. “I’ve extensively studied all the houses, just in case I was Sorted anywhere. Do you want to hear everything I know about Salazar Slytherin?”

“What I want to hear,” an obnoxious voice broke in, “is how _you_ got into this house after your mental brother got expelled and ruined Slytherin’s reputation.”

Lili turned to stare at the voice, icy anger coursing through her veins. It was a boy, taller than her, but not by much. He had probably been at school when Jacob was, though not in the same year. Jacob would’ve been a seventh year if he hadn’t been expelled.

Lili held her head up as haughtily as she could. She wouldn’t let them know how angry she was.

“Ruined Slytherin’s reputation? _I_ think it got ruined during the war by You-Know-Who.”

Muttering ran through the common room, and Lili remembered a conversation she had had with Jacob years ago, when he had been a first year and she had been six or so. He had started school at the height of the war against You-Know-Who, and he had told her about the students in Slytherin.

_“You see Lili, there’s four kinds of students in Slytherin. There’s the people who think that Muggles and Muggle-borns are fine. There’s not many of them. Then there’s the people who don’t care either way. They stay silent. Then there’s the wannabe Death Eaters. They’re the loudest.” _

_He had gone quiet then, staring at nothing and hugging her tight._

_“Then there’s the actual Death Eaters. They’re older kids and—and they’re scary. Stay away from them if you get Sorted into Slytherin and they’re still there.”_

She was fairly certain there were no more actual Death Eaters in Slytherin, but it appeared wannabe Death Eaters still held the majority.

Another boy came sidling up to the first one. He was much taller, and much more muscular. “Well, I’ve heard that Jacob ran away so he could go dig up You-Know-Who and bring him back to power, how about that?”

_To hell with appearing calm_, Lili thought furiously as she stepped forward, towards the older boys who were grinning smugly. Rowan caught her arm, and desperately tried to tug her backwards.

“Jacob would never do that! Never! Our dad’s a Muggle, so why would he ever even consider that! He hated You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters! _He’d never do that_!”

Lili was beyond furious, but part of her was checking the reaction throughout the common room to her words. The boys in front of her had sneers on their face when she called her dad a Muggle, and she noticed four of the six Prefects also seemed to be unhappy with that declaration. She was glad Felix kept his face neutral, as did the sixth year female Prefect. Maybe they wouldn’t have awful opinions.

The muscular boy was grinning toothily. “Would he never? Really? Do you know what your brother got up to at school, little girlie?”

Lili was breathing heavily through her nose, and Rowan was still tugging at her, looking shocked.

“Alright, Davenport, give it up. Are you so stupid that your only intelligent conversation can happen with an eleven-year-old? I thought the Quidditch captain was meant to be smart.”

Lili finally let Rowan reign her in as Felix came over and defused the situation.

“Though I hear that title might not be yours for much longer after your abysmal O.W.L. scores. Maybe conversing with an eleven-year-old really is the best you can do.” Felix’s face was impassive, but it still managed to be insufferable and smug at the same time.

Davenport was scowling at Felix. “Get lost, Rosier.”

Felix stood his ground. “Once you stop harassing a girl five years younger than you.”

They glared at each other, but eventually Davenport gave up.

He scoffed. “Whatever. Like I care what you bloody kids think.”

“Probably as much as I care what you trolls think.”

Davenport scowled, but left. Felix turned to look at Lili. Just when she started to shift from foot to foot, uncomfortable, he spoke. “Learn when to shut up and back down, Brooks.”

Lili watched him walk away, astonished. She felt Rowan tug at her again. “Hey, Lili, let’s go check out our rooms, see if we’re roommates….”

Rowan kept talking softly, but she looked shocked and…hurt? Oh. She probably would’ve liked to have been told about the expelled brother thing earlier. Whatever. Lili was angry and tired and sad. She didn’t want to think about her brother.

“Oh, this is great! Look, our names are on the same plaque, we’re roommates!” Rowan turned to grin at Lili, but it faded. “Um, are you okay? What was that all about earlier?”

Lili sighed. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. I just want to sleep now.”

Rowan nodded, looking crestfallen. “Alright then. Goodnight, Lili.”

-x-x-x-

Lili woke up how she had fallen asleep—irritated.

She sat up, rubbing her face probably harder than she should.

At least she could admit the bed was comfortable. It was larger than the bed Lili had at home, and much softer. It felt like sleeping on a cloud, but a cloud with a nice, heavy comforter on top. The room itself was very nice. It was lit in that same dim green light that common room had, making it easy to fall asleep even with the lights on. There was a closed door leading out to the girl’s wing, and an open arch leading to a bathroom. Each girl had a bed, a side table, and a dresser to put clothing in, plus their trunks at the foot of the bed. Even with all that and a shared bookcase, the room was spacious.

Two of the other girls in her dorm seemed to be awake. One was Rowan, who waved when she saw Lili looking but was focused on putting stuff from her trunk into communal bookcase, and the other was her blonde roommate. The roommate with dark red hair was still asleep.

Lili slipped out of bed and went to her trunk. She had been so upset and tired last night she hadn’t even taken a look at her trunk, just went right to bed. She rifled through it, looking for some acceptable clothing. September 1st had been a Saturday this year, so they had an extra day to themselves before classes started.

Finding her bathroom items, some jeans, and her favorite jumper, she went to the bathroom to change and get ready for the day.

The bathroom looked similar to the other rooms in Slytherin. Stone grey walls were lit by dim green light, while a row of porcelain sinks took up most of the room and four doors were on the side walls. Opening two of the doors revealed old fashioned but beautiful looking porcelain tubs with shower heads attached, while the other two held pristine toilets. Above the sinks were hanging ornate mirrors. Under the sinks were dirty laundry bins. Small baskets, which were much more modern looking than everything else in the bathroom, were on the walls to hold toiletries.

She quickly went through her morning routine. Near the end of it, her red headed roommate stumbled in, and Lili quickly left, feeling awkward using the bathroom at the same time as another person.

Rowan was sitting on her bed, looking awkward, while the blonde roommate was brushing her hair.

“Oh, Lili! Hey! Wanna go get breakfast? It should be open by now…”

Blonde roommate turned slightly. “Yes, please go, _half-blood_. I don’t want to be in your presence any longer than needed.”

Rowan’s smile dimmed, but Lili held her head up. “Sure, Rowan. We can go find out where our classes are after, so we don’t get lost on the first day.”

Rowan jumped up. “Yeah, let’s go!” She said quickly and grabbed Lili’s hand, practically pulling her out. “How rude,” Lili heard her mumble as they closed the door.

“Oh—wait.” Lili stopped to look at the door. On it was a plaque she had ignored last night.

**DORM 1B**

VIDALIA BARROWS

LILITH BROOKS

ROWAN KHANNA

DESDEMONA SELWYN

“So, which is…?”

“Blonde is Desdemona, red head is Vidalia.” Rowan informed her. Lili nodded and turned to look at the door across from them.

**DORM 1A**

MORRIGAN LAUREL

ISMELDA MURK

EVELYN PEREZ

MERULA SNYDE

LIZ TUTTLE

“The other girls in our year.” Rowan tilted her head at the door. “Wonder if they’re nicer than Desdemona?”

“Well, at least one was giving me a dirty look last night, so probably not.”

The first year dorms were the farthest back in the hallway. As they moved towards the common room the numbers went up, with the seventh year girls being right next to the open arch that lead to the common room.

The common room was about as empty as it had been last night. Most wanted to sleep in probably, so the two girls went undisturbed as they crossed to the front door and went out into the dungeon.

“Alright,” Lili said, trying to remember last night. “I think the way to Great Hall is through here…”

The way to the Great Hall from their dorm was fairly easy to remember, just down the hallway and up some stairs. Finding their classrooms turned out to be much more difficult. While they lost their way, Lili explained to Rowan what last night was about.

“Sorry for not telling you, but… it’s just a sore subject. I don’t like to talk about it.”

Rowan shook her head so hard, her hair whipped around and lightly hit Lili in the face. “That’s fine! We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I was just a bit confused is all. If people start talking about your brother again, what do you want me to do? Stay quiet?”

Lili felt a rush of appreciation towards Rowan, and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that’d work. If we’re quiet maybe people will stop talking about him.”

“I have a big brother too, you know. Though, he’s much older than me, he had already graduated Hogwarts when I was born…”

Their conversation after was much lighter, and Lili herself felt much lighter. Being away from her mother and being with a friend made her feel good. At least, she felt good until a bucket of ice water was poured on her head.

“HAHAHAHA!” Loud cackling was above her, and she briefly saw a jester hat before the drops of water made her close her eyes again. “Ickle first years need to learn when to duck!”

“Peeves! How many times do we have to tell you to be nice to the first years? Shoo! Shoo!” A male voice said as a door was thrown open and the cackling drifted away. “Oh, dear. _Tergeo_.”

Lili felt the odd sensation of all the water flowing off her, leaving her dry. A gasp from Rowan made her think she was feeling that too. Lili blinked a few times, trying to orientate herself.

Before her was one of the professors, a short man with a large, dark mustache who was dressed in blue robes. “Are you two alright? Peeves loves picking on first years at the start of the term, don’t read much into that.”

“I’m fine.” Lili shook her head, shaking off imaginary water droplets. “Thank you for drying us off.”

The professor chuckled. “It’s the least I could do when Peeves pours ice water on two girls right outside my office!” He smiled warmly at them. “I’m Professor Flitwick, you’re Charms professor and the Head of Ravenclaw.”

Rowan perked up at that. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir! I’m Rowan Khanna and this is Lili Brooks, we’re really excited to be at Hogwarts and learning magic, it’s all very exciting!”

He chuckled again. “I always like to see that enthusiasm in students! Let’s hope that enthusiasm stays as exams get closer.” He smiled at them as they laughed weakly at his bad joke. “Well, I have to continue getting ready for classes tomorrow, but I think I can tell you girls a secret first: Slytherin and Gryffindor first years will be my first class tomorrow!” He winked at them. “See you girls first thing in the morning!”

Lili waved goodbye while Rowan shouted goodbye enthusiastically.

“Oh, isn’t that amazing? We have Charms tomorrow! I know I’ve said this so many times, but I’m so excited!”


	4. Merula Snyde

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the first deviation from hphm (and probably regular hp too) canon starts here. Here we introduce Professor Candora Talcifer, Ancient Runes professor and the Slytherin Head of House for Lili's first two years at Hogwarts. idk It just always struck me as odd that Snape got the job and then immediately became HoH. Like, there were no other Slytherin teachers that had seniority?? Anyways, she doesn't play a big role in much of anything, but have an explanation for her presence.

Lili was woken by Rowan chattering excitedly to no one. Opening one eye, she could see that Rowan was the only one awake, and that Rowan wasn’t talking to no one, but to Alfred, who had finally shown up. Lili propped herself up on her arms and the noise caused Alfred to jump into the air and bolt under Vidalia’s bed.

“What time is it Rowan?” Lili asked. They didn’t have windows in the room, being under the lake, and the clock was closer to Rowan.

“Er, it’s 7:30.”

“Yes, and some people would like some more sleep, so _shut up_!” Desdemona said, glaring at the other two.

“Sorry!” Rowan squeaked.

Lili ignored her and said in a loud whisper. “I’ll go get dressed then. We’ll have time to savor breakfast.”

Personally, she wasn’t thrilled at being up so early, but she didn’t want Rowan to be left alone for another hour. She changed quickly and the two of them left for the Great Hall.

There were already students in the Hall as they walked in. Lili noted most of them seemed to be the younger students who were presumably too excited or nervous to get much sleep, like Rowan.

They sat near the front, close to a clump of second years, but far enough away to be distinct. Food was already on the table, and Lili made sure to eat up until she was full. She didn’t think there would be time to eat a snack before lunch.

Most of the professors were already at the table, and as they were eating, a few would come down every so often and stop by clusters of students. Lili figured out why when a tall, older witch with light brown skin and dark grey hair stopped next to Lili and Rowan.

She nodded at them. “Girls. I am Professor Talcifer, professor for the Ancient Runes class and Head of Slytherin Household.” She handed each of them a piece of parchment. “This will be your schedule for the year. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to talk to me. I wish you luck with your schooling, and welcome to Slytherin.”

Professor Talcifer moved on to the clump of second years.

“Well, she looks scary.” Lili observed.

“A bit.” Rowan agreed, but she was distracted by the parchment in her hands. “Now, what’s our schedule!”

Lili looked down and scanned her schedule. “Double Charms with Gryffindor, Potions with Hufflepuff, lunch, double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, then History of Magic with Gryffindor for today and Wednesday. But Wednesday is regular Charms and double Potions in the morning. I’m surprised there’s so many breaks.”

Mondays and Wednesdays were packed from nine A.M. to four P.M., but Tuesdays and Thursdays both had breaks after double Herbology with Hufflepuff in the morning and double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor in the afternoon. Friday also had two breaks, making Charms and Potions only one hour each. Though Friday’s morning break would soon be replaced by flying classes, which happened on and off throughout the year.

“Well, we haven’t chosen electives yet. Those start in third year and we’ll fill out the schedule then.” Rowan took a bite of eggs. “What electives do you think you’ll take?”

“Isn’t it a bit soon to start thinking about electives?”

“It’s never too early to think about your education!”

Lili laughed.

Soon enough, Professor Dumbledore announced it was ten minutes ‘til nine, and students should get moving. Happily, Lili had gone looking for the classes before with Rowan and, barring needing to wait for a particularly slow staircase to move, they made the trek to the Charms classroom just fine.

They were some of the first students in the room and Professor Flitwick winked at them when they came in.

Slowly, the classroom filled in and Flitwick started class. Attendance was first, and Lili used it to take stock of who was who. Trying to remember the faces and names of her fellow Slytherins was more important, but she also took stock of the Gryffindors.

Flitwick also liked to chat with the students after he said their name, ask after family he had known or taught, or compliment them on their scarves and hairbands.

When he got to her, Flitwick gave her a cautious smile. “Ms. Brooks! Delightful to see you and Ms. Khanna again. I remember your brother, you know. Very good charms student, but quite a rebellious one, too. I hope you follow the rules more than he did!”

Lili gave him a smile, but her stomach did flips. Hogwarts was great so far, except for how many people kept mentioning her brother. She hoped she would stop feeling awful at every mention soon.

Soon, class really started. The first half was spent taking notes, while the second half they actually did magic. It was only Lumos, but it was still involved waving their wands. Lili was feeling very clever, having been one of the first to get her wand to light up. It was exhilarating to actually do magic.

Most everyone in the class had gotten the spell by the time they were told to put their books away and head to their next class. The Gryffindors went off in one direction, while the Slytherins went back down to the dungeons.

Potions was intimidating. The Potions classroom was bleak and freezing even in summer, and Professor Snape himself was a terrifying figure. He gave a long speech on the glory of potions then called them dunderheads, which didn’t impress Lili much, but his pale face was unapproachable enough that she didn’t even consider laughing. She did frown slightly however, when he took five points from Hufflepuff when the silver haired girl, Chiara Lobosca, didn’t know what another name for monkshood was. She hoped he wasn’t always that unfair. They didn’t start a potion that class, but instead took copious notes on how to prepare a simple cure for boils which they would brew next class.

Lunch was uneventful, and then they hurried off to Transfiguration. Lili and Rowan were two of the first there, only beat by a Ravenclaw with strangely colored hair who broke off a conversation with Professor McGonagall when they entered.

Her class was fast paced and much harder than the previous two. Like Charms, they spent the first half taking notes, and doing practical magic in the second half. Unlike Charms, the results of turning a match into a needle was less positive. Only one student, the Ravenclaw who had been talking to McGonagall earlier, had managed to do it. In fact, he had managed to fully transfigure the match, which was apparently rare enough that Professor McGonagall gave ten points to Ravenclaw.

Then they were off to History of Magic. Rowan babbled excitedly all the way they walked there, ignoring dark looks from their fellow Slytherins.

“Oh, it’s my favorite subject! It’s just so _fascinating_. And they say it’s taught by a ghost, which is so exciting! Can you imagine everything he knows? He _is_ a history of magic.”

However, Rowan’s mood was significantly more dower as they left.

“Is that seriously what the class is? That was _awful_. I can’t believe it. I’ve read better lectures than that in hundred-year-old textbooks, and those are _not_ interesting at all, let me tell you.”

Rowan spent the rest of the afternoon complaining about History of Magic. Apparently, her favorite subject being massacred by the professor hit a sore spot. She didn’t even bother to implement her strict studying schedule she had been talking about at lunch, she was so off put.

Dumbledore made another speech at dinner, and then they were off to bed to sleep until the next morning.

The second day was much the same as the first.

Rowan was still complaining about History of Magic at breakfast, but she cheered up as they walked to Herbology, eager to learn a new subject.

Professor Sprout was a short and stout woman, who tolerated no nonsense, but nice and had the most unique class yet. She took them to Greenhouse 1 and told them to pair up, two Slytherins and two Hufflepuffs, and write down as many plants as they could name, to be turned in at the end of class.

Lili and Rowan stayed together, obviously, and they were put with two Hufflepuff girls, Penny and Tonks. Penny was pretty, a bit taller than Lili with honey blonde hair done in a unique style. It was parted in the center, with one side braided away from the face. Her hair was half up, half down, and she had two more braids coming from behind her ears and going over her chest. She had a nice smile, and bright blue eyes.

Tonks on the other hand….

“Oh, you were the girl who tripped!” Rowan said cheerfully, then frowned. “Didn’t you have brown hair?”

Lili had been thinking the same thing. The name Tonks had stayed in her head due to Tonks tripping during the Sorting, and she distinctly remembered straight brown hair on the girl, not the golden blonde curls she currently sported.

Tonks just grinned. “I did then, but I’m a Metamorphmagus!”

“A what?”

“A Metamorphmagus. See I can do,” she squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her nose. Lili and Rowan gasped as her shoulder length blonde hair shortened and turned a dark brown. “This! I’m blonde right now because my mum says it makes me look smart and I want to make a good impression. For the first week at least.”

“It’s very normal to find that cool,” Penny chimed in. “We’ve been having her do all sorts of things back in the common room. She can turn her nose into a pig snout!”

The four of them didn’t do particularly well on the assignment after that. It turned out none of them knew plants that well, and anyways, Lili and Rowan kept asking Tonks to change her hair or her nose when Professor Sprout wasn’t looking. It wasn’t a productive class, but it was the most fun Lili had had so far.

They waved goodbye to their new Hufflepuff friends, and went back to their dorm to rest before lunch.

The first hiccough up the week started when they left for lunch. Lili had to go to the bathroom and get some of her school things together, and told Rowan to wait for her in the dungeon hallway outside the common room. That turned out to be a mistake.

As she exited the arch, she heard Rowan mumbling at the end of the hallway opposite of the stairs they needed to go up. _What was going on_?

“But I can’t! I mean, if I made a list, I’d put Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Talcifer, every other female professor, all the seventh years…”

“Just say I’m the most powerful witch at Hogwarts already!”

“But you’re not! You’re a first year!”

The girl stepped forward, and Rowan stepped back, her back hitting the wall.

“Say it!”

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

The girl bothering Rowan turned around, a scowl on her face. She had a pale, round face, and short, messy hair that had an odd, lighter patch on the bangs. She also had, to Lili’s surprised, dark red violet eyes. Lili had never seen that eye color before, not on anything real. Lili recognized her as another Slytherin in their year, but she couldn’t remember which one. _Either Merula or Morrigan_, she thought. Both had been brunette’s with names that started with M.

“Who do you think you are? Go away.”

Lili held her head up, and made sure a frown was on her face. “I think I’m Rowan’s friend and that I shouldn’t go away when you’re bullying her.”

The girl seemed to be studying her.

“No, I know who you are now. You’re the one whose brother went crazy, disgraced his house, got himself expelled and was never heard from again. I can’t believe they let _you_ in the school after all that.”

Lili steeled her outside as she churned in anger inwardly. “Well, at least _I_ have a reputation. I don’t know who _you_ are,” she said as rudely as possible. The girl bristled, as Lili knew she likely would.

“Merula Snyde. First year Slytherin. _Best witch at Hogwarts_.”

Lili had been close—this was Merula. She didn’t like her. “Why don’t you just go away then, _best witch at Hogwarts_. Which I doubt, you know. I’d think the best witch wouldn’t need to constantly say it. Or force others too.”

Merula’s eyes flashed at that. Lili felt smug knowing the girl was just as angry as Lili was now. “Well, I heard the professor’s whispering about you during the feast. Maybe I’ll be doing everyone a favor if I get rid of you now, before you ruin Hogwarts like your brother.”

This girl was horrible. Lili was glad she was in the other dorm. She’d take Desdemona’s passive aggressiveness over Merula any day. She stepped forward. “Don’t talk to me or my friend like that. You’ll regret it.”

Merula crossed her arms. “Will I?”

Footsteps sounded behind them, and the three girls turned to see Professor Snape ominously walking towards them.

He ignored Rowan and Merula. “Lilith Brooks. I knew you would be trouble like your brother.”

Lili couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It sounded as if he were blaming Lili. “Professor Snape! Merula was bullying Rowan here, and—”

“Get to lunch.”

“What?”

“I said, get to lunch. Be glad I don’t enjoy taking House points from Slytherin. You deserve it for causing a ruckus in the school corridors, but I will refrain this once.”

Lili stared open mouthed at him. He glared at her. “Go.”

Rowan squeaked out from behind Merula and grabbed Lili’s arm. “Thank you, Professor Snape! Goodbye, Professor Snape!” She dashed away, dragging Lili with her.

“What? How—how could he think Merula was the victim there? Is he crazy?”

“Shhhh!” Rowan looked around, as if Snape had followed them footstep for footstep. She kept shushing Lili whenever she made to complain until they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

Lili was still fired up. “How unfair was that! He didn’t even ask what was going on, just insulted me and my brother, ugh!”

“Thank you for helping me.”

“What?”

Rowan smiled. “Thank you for standing up for me there. I’ve never been very good at doing that for myself.” She looked down. “And I’ve never had anyone ever call me a friend before.”

“Well,” Lili floundered, her anger leaving her after Rowan’s confession. “You are! How awful was that Merula girl though?”

“_Very_. I’m glad we don’t share a room with her.”

Lili laughed. “I thought the same thing.”

The two of them started to eat, and Lili replayed the scene in her head as she put food on her plate.

“What do you think she meant by the professor’s had whispered about me?”

“Huh?”

“Something Merula mentioned.”

“Well,” Rowan adjusted her glasses. “Do you really believe her? She seems like the kind of person to lie about that sort of stuff.”

Lili let out a sigh. “Probably. I hope so, at least. I don’t want the professors gossiping about me.” _Or about Jacob, _she added in her head. That was more likely as she mediated on it. They saw her and remembered Jacob.

She took a bite of a sandwich. “You know, my brother never liked Professor Snape. Jacob was only one year off from going to school with him.”

Rowan stared at her. “Seriously?”

Lili nodded, happy she was the one who had inside knowledge this time. “Yup. I didn’t hear much, because, well, Jacob didn’t like talking about things and people he didn’t like. At least not to me. But he did send a few letters home talking about how much the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. level students hated being taught by someone they had gone to school with.” Lili giggled. “Jacob didn’t like it much either. He said he always talked back to Professor Snape.”

Rowan blinked. “I thought Professor Snape was much older than that. He has to be only…”

“Twenty-four or so, yeah.”

“Wow.”

-x-x-x-

Merula avoided them in their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their professor was a short Welsh man named Professor Rees, who informed them their year would be more research and lecture based and they would learn more practical knowledge in their second year. Lili was disappointed at that, but she remembered all the stories Jacob had told her about his Defense classes. Apparently, there was a new one every year and how well they taught varied vastly. From what Lili could guess, she’d say Professor Rees would be a competent, if boring, professor.

That afternoon, Rowan implemented her studying schedule. Lili groaned inwardly at the thought, but Rowan insisted studying skills was something that needed to be learned early, and Lili wouldn’t say no to her only friend.

Dinner that night and Charms the next morning both went well, but the second hiccough of the week happened in Potions.

It was a double class, and they were brewing their first potion that day. Lili was nervous. While you could repeatedly try until you go it right in Charms or Transfiguration, there was only one try in Potions. Lili didn’t like messing up and being incorrect. She didn’t think she would like Potions much, even if she had a professor other than Professor Snape.

Most everyone sat with their own house, and to Lili’s displeasure, Merula decided she needed to sit next to her and Rowan.

Merula smiled almost pleasantly at Lili, and Lili’s eyebrows went up.

“I bet you think you’re going to do great, Brooks. But _I_ think that everything is going to blow up in your face.” Merula laughed to herself.

Lili exchanged a look with Rowan. What did Merula mean by that?

She would’ve asked Rowan, but Professor Snape decided to make a speech, and you didn’t interrupt Professor Snape. She listened to him drone on about foolish wand waving and shutting up. It wasn’t very interesting.

Brewing the potion was as hard as she thought it would be. Her and Rowan compared notes, and made sure the other was doing everything correctly, but Lili still found it much harder to get used to compared to Charms.

Her only luck that class was that Professor Snape stayed primarily in the Hufflepuff side of the room. He seemed to alternate between berating Chiara Lobosca for being incompetent, and being surprised about how well Penny Haywood was doing. Penny even managed to hold his attention for a full ten minutes, asking about minute changes to the potion that could lead to it being brewed more efficiently.

Lili giggled and pointed out Professor Snape’s flummoxed expression to Rowan. “I bet if Penny weren’t a Hufflepuff, he would’ve given her a dozen house points.” Rowan giggled back.

When observing the Slytherins, Professor Snape never criticized them, except for one taller boy who he called stupid as much as he called Chiara incompetent. Lili was pretty sure Chiara didn’t deserve the verbal insults as her potion seemed to be giving off the correct smoke color, but this boy did. He somehow managed to mess up the very first step.

Soon enough, Lili was at the end of the instructions and she was feeling very proud. She might not have brewed the most perfect potion, but it was a decent potion. She’d get a solid grade for it.

Lili peered at Rowans. It was more reddish than hers, but also a well brewed potion. She grinned at Rowan. “Looks like we both—”

“Lili!” Rowan’s eyes were wide, and she pointed at Lili’s cauldron.

“What….” Lili gasped. Her cauldron was now bubbling. Sparks started shooting out. Professor Snape swooped over in an instant, just in time to see her cauldron explode.

“What?” Lili was speechless as she swiped some black grime from her face. “How—how did that happen?”

“Because of your _incompetence_ and _recklessness_, most likely. Just as bad as your _brother_.” Beside her, Professor Snape was seething. “I should have never let you set foot inside this classroom. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Lili stared wordlessly at him. She had no clue what was happening, except….

“Sir, I think Merula did something to my cauldron!”

It went deathly quiet. Even first years could gather people didn’t argue with Professor Snape.

“Own up to your own incompetence, Brooks.”

Lili was defiant. She knew she was right. “I would! But earlier, Merula threatened me and my friend, and said she would make sure something happens to me. You were there yesterday!”

Professor Snape paused. “Is this true, Ms. Snyde?”

Merula looked indignant, but it didn’t wholly cover up her smugness. “Absolutely not, Professor Snape! Lili clearly is just like her brother, as you said. Reckless and incompetent.”

He gave her a measured stare. “Your family have represented Slytherin well over the years, Ms. Snyde. I will be making sure you live up to their standard.” He sneered at Lili. “You, however, are a lost cause. Ten points from Slytherin, Brooks.” Lili opened her mouth and he glared. She shut it. “Be glad I don’t take more, or give detention. Now, leave.”

He swept to the front of the room, black robes billowing behind him. “Everyone, bottle your potions and hand them in. You may then leave.”

The class was silent as they did so, many giving wide eyed stares in Lili’s direction as they did so.

Merula smiled smugly at Lili. “I told you it would blow up in your face. What an idiot to coat your cauldron in Bulbadox powder, that always reacts negatively with the Cure for Boils.”

Lili was halfway out of her chair when Rowan dragged her back down. “You did it! You just admitted to doing it! I can’t believe this! What is your _problem_? We’re both in Slytherin, you took points from your own house.”

Merula rolled her eyes. “Whatever. That’s thinking small time. I’m thinking in the grand scheme of things.”

“Grand scheme?”

She smirked. “The grand scheme of getting you expelled like your mad brother, of course.”

Rowan had to physically haul Lili out of the Potions classroom after that.


	5. Revenge is Best Served Magical

Whereas on Monday, Rowan had seethed and ranted all through the afternoon, on Wednesday, Lili was the one ranting.

She couldn’t believe what Merula did. She couldn’t believe how Snape reacted! He was a professor, an adult, he was meant to find out what was true, not just punish the one whose family he disliked. It was an outrage.

Rowan nodded when appropriate, just as Lili had two days ago.

Lili lost steam halfway through History of Magic, and after the class she dragged her feet as she walked out. She had told Rowan to go on to the common room without her, wanting to be grumpy on her own. Rowan had agreed too quickly, making Lili sulk as she made sure she had everything.

“Um, um, excuse me?” A timid voice called out behind her.

She turned around to see a Gryffindor boy cowering near the door. He was taller than her, with dirty blond hair, but he his stance made him seem smaller, and he radiated a nervous energy.

“You’re Lili Brooks, right? I wanted to thank you for standing up to Merula.” His eyes shifted about, as if he expected Merula to be in the open corridor.

“Er—what? Not to be rude, but who are you?”

“I’m Ben Copper, a first year like you.”

She could’ve guessed the last part since they had walked out of the same classroom, but she didn’t mention that to him. He seemed like the type to bolt at the first wrong social interaction. “How do you know about the Merula thing?”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Everyone does! It’s all the first years have talked about since lunch. You destroying your cauldron then accusing Merula right in front of Professor Snape!”

Lili blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected that to be such big news. “Oh. Why would you thank me for that?”

He hunched in on himself. “Merula tormented me the whole way here. The entire time on the train and in the castle. She kept threatening me and calling me a—a Mudblood? I don’t even know what that is, but I know it isn’t good….”

Lili felt all her anger come back in a rush. She lunged forward to grab Ben’s shoulders and he stiffened with a squeak. “She said _what_?”

“M-Mudblood….”

She let go of him and he swayed. “She is so awful! How could she say that?” Lili turned to look at him. “She called you one of the worst things you could call someone. It’s absolutely horrible of her. I didn’t think people our age could be so—so prejudiced and awful.”

“I’m just glad that someone stood up to her.” He hunched back in on himself. “I certainly would never. It’s a joke I got into Gryffindor. I didn’t know what it meant before the Sorting, so I said okay to the Sorting Hat when it said it’d place me there. But now that I do, I’m pretty sure he put me in here for a laugh.”

Lili felt bad for this kid. He didn’t need to be so hard on himself. “Everyone’s afraid of something.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I’m afraid of everything. My parents are muggles, so this is all so—so terrifying. I don’t think I belong here.”

“Don’t say that. I was raised in a muggle neighbourhood, but I always knew about wizards and magic and this place is still a lot to take in, even for me.”

Ben stared at her then looked down. He mumbled something that could’ve been a goodbye and started to scurry away.

Lili took a deep breath and impulsively raised up her hand. “Hey, Ben! If you ever need help or—or to talk, feel free to find me or Rowan, okay?”

He looked shocked, but he nodded and ran away as fast as he could.

Lili sighed. She didn’t really want to take a scaredy-cat Gryffindor under her wing, but maybe he’d be useful in the future.

She walked back slowly to her common room, mulling things over. It seemed other people besides her disliked Merula. Which was fair. Lili had known her for a day and a half and hated her more than anything. Perhaps she could use that against Merula. Get enough people who didn’t like her together and Merula wouldn’t be able to do anything.

She hadn’t expected Rowan to still be in the common room when she got there, and she really did not expect her to be nervously standing next to the fifth year Prefect, Felix Rosier. Rowan waved her over and Lili slowly walked over to them, wondering what Felix could possibly want.

He gave her an impassive stare. “I hear you’ve already lost Slytherin ten points.”

Lili’s anger flared up. “Blame _Merula_ for that, she—”

“I don’t care,” he interrupted. “Just don’t do whatever it is again. Professor Snape rarely takes points from Slytherin house. If you just shut up in his presence, he won’t do it again.”

Lili crossed her arms. “Whatever. Did you need me for something?”

He handed her a folded piece of parchment. “Snape sent this letter to our common room for you. Be glad I intercepted it and not someone else.”

“A letter? What? Why didn’t he just give it to me directly?”

“Probably because he hates you. And everyone, really, but you specifically right now. So, do whatever it says and get back on his good side.”

Lili opened the letter, flabbergasted.

_Brooks,_

_I have indeed discovered possible evidence of someone tampering with your cauldron. It does not excuse your incompetence, but it does warrant investigating. Bring me a jar of pickled slugs from the Potions Storeroom and I may consider restoring your house points._

_You can find the Potions Storeroom by heading to the West Wing of the First Floor. It is a plain brown door next to a painting of three armadillo’s playing ten pin bowling. Do not dawdle._

_Snape._

Lili read it twice more, still totally baffled. She looked up to see that Felix had left but Rowan was hovering nearby. Lili silently handed the letter to her.

Rowan absorbed it quicker than Lili had. “Oh, this is great news! Do you want me to come with?”

Lili nodded. “Yeah. Let’s put out bags away first then head over there.”

Free from their heavy school bags, they hurried up the dungeon stairs to the first floor, then headed for the West Wing. That year, the West Wing of the first floor was empty of any classes. It hosted the Hospital Wing just off to the side of the Great Hall, but that was the only room that ever had any people in it.

Lili looked around. The West Wing was bright and cheery, with large half circle windows that let in a good amount of light, giving the pale stones a warm, yellow look.

“Is it just me, or is this an odd place for Professor Snape to store his potion ingredients?”

Rowan was frowning. “No, I was thinking that too. I also thought the Potions Storeroom was in the dungeons, near a tapestry, but I guess not.”

There was a niggling feeling at the back of Lili’s neck. Something was off. “Well, maybe this has just always been where the Potions Storeroom is, and Snape couldn’t move it to fit his creepy aesthetic.”

Rowan giggled. “Maybe.”

In contrast to the warm and bright corridor, the Potions Storeroom was dark and humid.

Lili cautiously went in, Rowan behind her, hand on to her shoulder. The door shut firmly behind them. Lili looked behind her, to where she could vaguely see Rowan. “Why’d you shut the door?”

Rowans eyes were wide in the darkness. “I didn’t!”

Something moved in front of them and both girls jumped back with a shriek. They heard laughter outside the door.

“L-Lumos!” Lili cried, putting her wand up.

In front of them, in the dim light Lili had managed to make appear, were dozens of thick vines, all beginning to stir.

“W-what are they?”

More laughter sounded beyond the door. Lili hissed as she heard Merula’s voice. “A couple of fourth year Slytherins showed me this room. They think someone accidentally left a pot of Devil’s Snare in here over the summer, and now it’s overtaken the room.” Lili could hear the smirk in Merula’s voice. “If you’re so much better than everyone, you should be able to do a wand lighting charm strong enough to drive it away.”

“MERULA!” Lili threw herself against the door, but it didn’t budge. She hoped the sudden noise made Merula jump. “You locked us in here?”

“And sent that fake letter from Snape. I told you, I have my plan to get rid of you and get revenge.”

“By killing us?” Rowan shrieked, trying to flatten herself against the door. “Devil’s Snare can kill unprepared people, I’ve read all about it!”

“Brooks was meant to go in alone, but you croaking isn’t a big loss either, Khanna.”

Lili yelled some choice expletives that she had learned from other kids in primary school. Merula just laughed, and Lili heard the telltale echoing noise of footsteps walking away.

One vine lashed out at her and both girls shrieked again. Lili’s wand went out.

“Lumos!” She cried again. The wand lit up again, brighter than before, but not enough to stop the Devil’s Snare from moving. The vine eked forward and started to wrap around her waist. Lili screamed.

“L-L-Lumos!” Rowan stuttered. Her want brightened, but not nearly enough. “Help! HELP! HEEEELP!” She started banging on the door.

Lili tried desperately to make the light on her wand brighter. It was at least holding off the other vines from approaching her upper body, but the one around her waist was squeezing her middle tightly and she felt another begin to wrap around her ankle.

She screamed and started hitting the thicker vine around her waist with her wand, the tip flaring up brighter every time she hit the plant. It hurriedly unwrapped her waist and huddled near the other vines. Lili let out a ragged sob of relief and tried to yank her foot away from the vine on her ankle, shoving her wand near the vine. It unfurled, but slowly.

Lili backed up so that her back was touching the door, next to Rowan who was pounding on it, still screeching for help. “Back! _Back_!” Lili screeched holding her wand, finally shining almost too brightly, in front of her.

Some vines curled forward slightly, but none tried to wrap themselves around her or Rowan.

“Hey, what’s goin’ on there?”

There was a whumping noise on the other side and the door suddenly swung open, revealing a very large man. Lili shrieked again, and it was only maybe tangentially related to the encroaching Devil’s Snare. The large man seemed shocked at what he saw.

“Gulpin’ gargoyles! Slytherins, get away from that Devil’s Snare!”

Lili and Rowan wasted no time following his order and scrambled out as fast as they could. The large man shut the door behind them with a thud.

“Blimey! How’d that get in there? Yeh two alrigh’?”

Lili and Rowan stared up at the large man. Lili knew she had her bug eyes, but didn’t care. On a list of things she had expected to happen in her first week at Hogwarts, getting locked in a room with a deadly plant and being rescued by a giant hadn’t made the list.

“You saved our lives!” Rowan squeaked.

“Yeah, thank you, mister…” Lili belatedly added on, still shocked.

“Yeh can call me Hagrid. Keeper of the Keys and Grounds here at Hogwarts. Pleasure ter meet yeh.”

Lili nodded numbly while Rowan mumbled something polite sounding.

“Now, how’d yeh two girls get inter there? I’ll have ter tell Professor Dumbledore and Professor Sprout abou’ that room. Can’t have Devil’s Snare jus’ lyin’ around. Real dangerous plant.”

Murderous intent flew back into Lili now that the shock was wearing out. “A first year Slytherin locked us in here! Merula Snyde.”

Hagrid looked alarmed. “She did? That’s expulsion worthy, I’d wager. What’re yeh going ter do, er, didn’ catch yer names there.”

“I’m Rowan Khanna, and that’s Lili Brooks. We—”

“Blimey, yer Lili Brooks? I wanted ter speak with yeh!”

Lili exchanged a look with Rowan. She had never heard of Hagrid before, how did he know of her?

“Er, why?”

Hagrid had seemed rather excited before, but he sobered up at her question. “Jus’ wanted ter talk to yeh about yer brother.” He shuffled slightly_. In embarrassment?_ Lili wondered. “We have an experience in common, er, gettin’ expelled from Hogwarts, if yeh must know.” _Definitely embarrassed_. “I spoke ter him before he left Hogwarts grounds, tried ter tell him he had options despite bein’ expelled, but he brushed me off. Just wanted ter tell yeh that.”

“Oh.” Lili hadn’t expected that. This entire day had thrown her off balance. She hoped Hogwarts wasn’t always like this. It had to be only mid-afternoon and she was exhausted from the amount of emotions she had experienced in one day.

Hagrid shook his large head as if trying to get away from the embarrassment. “Anyways! What’re yeh goin’ ter do then, Lili an’ Rowan? Devil’s Snare is very deadly yeh know, this little prank of hers coulda been a disaster!”

“I bet that’s what she wanted.” Lili said darkly. “I’m going to shove her into this room and see how she likes it.”

Rowan stared at her and Hagrid cleared his throat. “Er, reckon that isn’ the best thing ter do. Go back ter Slytherin, talk ter a Prefect or a Professor.”

Rowan nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, Mr. Hagrid! Thank you very much for saving us from that.”

He waved a large hand. “No problem! Now get! Need ter check this room out….”

Rowan looped her arm through Lili’s and used that to drag Lili away. She looked worried. “You’re not actually going to lock Merula in there, are you?”

Lili clenched a fist. “No. I won’t stoop to her level. But I’m going to imagine doing that all night, I can tell you that.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad you won’t actually be shoving her in there. Though it does sound nice in theory.”

They hurried down to the dungeons and, once in the common room, Lili stopped short. Felix was sitting in an armchair near the door. She hadn’t expected him to wait for them.

When he looked up as they came through his eyebrows flew up, and Lili saw the first trace of emotion appear in his face. “Bloody hell, what happened to you two?”

Lili looked down. Her robes were torn where the Devil’s Snare had caught her, her stockings were completely ruined, and she was sure her hair was a mess. She looked over at Rowan. _Her_ hair definitely was a mess.

“We got snared by Devil’s Snare.”

Felix’s face was showing the most emotion she’d seen yet on any Slytherin upperclassman. “_Devil’s Snare_? How’d you get into _Devil’s Snare_? What happened to meeting with Professor Snape?”

Lili untangled her arms from Rowan and crossed them. “_Merula Snyde_ faked the letter and sent us to get trapped by the Devil’s Snare.”

“And we know she did,” Rowan piped up. “She stood outside the door and told us.”

Felix finally seemed to compose his expression. He lifted one eyebrow. “What did you do to that girl? I’m almost impressed in how little time it took for you to make an enemy willing to murder you.”

Lili hissed. “All I did was call her out on her bullying.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Do you have any physical proof she was the one who locked you in there? Professor Talcifer won’t believe anything unsubstantial.”

Rowan and Lili shook their heads. Lili held up the note. “We have this, but anyone could’ve written it.”

“Hm.” Felix seemed to be thinking. “Get changed into new robes, first. If a professor sees you in that, they’ll throw a fit.”

Lili looked down. “What about the tears? I don’t have that many robes.”

He waved a hand absently. “Throw it in the laundry bin. House elves will take care of it I’m sure. Anyways, if Merula bothers you again, come to me. I’ll talk to her.” He abruptly turned and walked away.

“I hope it’s a stern talk.” Lili huffed.

“I don’t know if Felix can talk any way but stern.” Both girls giggled, but it was a tired giggle. Today had been exhausting.

Lili trudged after Rowan, heading to their dorm. Lucky for the first time that day, Desdemona and Vidalia weren’t in, and Lili was free to change in a sneer-free room. She flopped down on Rowan’s bed, while Rowan sat cross legged with a book in her lap.

“So, why do you think Merula is like that?” Lili asked, staring up at the canopy of the bed.

“Like what?”

“Awful.”

Rowan laughed, but then her face grew serious. “I… actually think I know why.”

Lili turned onto her stomach to get a better look at Rowan. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Then what is it?”

Rowan was quiet for a good while. Lili played idly with a homemade quilt on Rowan’s bed while she waited.

“When I first heard Merula’s name, I thought it sounded familiar. I had to look through a bunch of archived _Daily Prophet’s_ in the library, but I eventually remembered why Snyde was familiar. My parents didn’t let me read that issue of the _Prophet_, but I still remember them discussing it.” She paused again. “A year back, they caught some Death Eater, and in exchange for a lighter sentence he gave a list of all the Death Eaters he could remember working with. The Snyde’s were two of the last Death Eaters caught and put into Azkaban.”

Lili’s hands went still. She turned to look at Rowan. “No.”

“Yes.” Rowan nodded solemnly.

Lili rolled onto her back again. “No wonder she’s like that. Kid of Death Eaters.”

“Death Eaters in Azkaban.” Rowan said softly.

Lili said nothing. Logically, she knew many of the students in Slytherin were probably the children of Death Eaters. Her mother had gone to the muggle world to escape the war, but she had still gotten updates on it from her family. Lili had been very young for most of the war, and it ended when she was nine, but children hear more than their parents think. She wouldn’t be able to list off Death Eaters by name, so she wouldn’t really know which of her classmates had family in Azkaban, but she knew all about their motives.

“Do you know how many others in Slytherin have Death Eater parents?” Lili asked quietly.

“Quite a few,” Rowan admitted. She tilted her head to the side. “Felix for one.”

Lili sat up, incredulous. “_Felix_? But, he’s nice! Well, nice-ish. He was one of the few who didn’t sneer when I mentioned my dad was a muggle.”

Rowan grimaced. “His dad was one of the original Death Eaters, and his older brother was one too.”

“Are they in Azkaban too?”

“No. They died in the war.”

“Oh.”

Lili wanted to say that’s awful, but she couldn’t. She hadn’t seen her dad in three years and her brother in two, but she would be devastated if they died. She couldn’t imagine how Felix felt, and yet—they were Death Eaters. Death Eaters who had most likely murdered innocent people all because of stupid prejudices. She felt bad for Felix, but she didn’t feel bad for his family.

“There’s a few more in our year.” Rowan continued. “Either with parents or siblings or relatives in Azkaban, or parents who said they were under the Imperius curse. Even more in the years above.”

Lili lowered herself down and went back to staring at the bed canopy. “I couldn’t imagine living with that.”

“Me neither.”


	6. Afraid to Fly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longest chapter! Over 4k words! A personal milestone for me lol 
> 
> Also, some of the text near the end of this chapter is taken from some supplementary ebook that was meant to be an excerpt from an in-universe textbook.

Flying lessons started for first years in the second week of school. Slytherin had their class on Thursday mornings, before lunch. Lili wasn’t looking forward to it.

Rowan was aghast. “What do you mean you’ve never flown before? You come from a wizarding background!”

Lili, Rowan, and Ben were sitting on a ledge between two columns at the edge of the Clocktower Courtyard. There were several courtyards scattered around Hogwarts, and Ben, the expert in finding secluded spots away from crowds, had said this small courtyard near the Training Grounds was usually abandoned. It didn’t have many areas to sit, and one side of ledges lining the courtyard were falling apart, so most students avoided it in preference to sitting in other courtyards or by the Black Lake.

When Lili and Rowan had asked for a place for all three of them to hang out in—since they couldn’t bring Ben to the Slytherin common room, he couldn’t bring them to the Gryffindor common room, and Madam Pince scared them all too much to spend extra time in the library—Ben had showed them the Clockwork Courtyard and a place he had dubbed the Artefact Room. As the Artefact Room was small and contained spiders and human skulls among other things, Lili and Rowan had unanimously decided to declare the courtyard their hang out spot.

Lili shrugged. “My dad was a Muggle and I live in a Muggle neighbourhood. No place to fly without being seen.”

Rowan still couldn’t believe it. “But you’ve never visited a wizarding family and rode their broom?”

“Oh yes, my prim and proper grandmother who hates fun is going to own a broom I can just use.” Lili rolled her eyes.

“I just can’t believe wizards actually use brooms to fly with,” Ben added in. “I thought that would’ve been made up.”

Rowan perked up. “Well, wizards have historically used just about anything to get around, brooms were just the easiest to hide from muggles. That and flying carpets, but those are banned in Britain.”

“_There’s actual flying carpets_?”

“Yeah! I’ve been on one when I visited some extended family in India. Harder than brooms to hold on to, but even more fun.”

Ben looked shocked, but his expression quickly turned dour. “I don’t want to go onto one of those then. I can’t even hold onto a broom.” He paused. “I can’t even get the broom to fly into my hand,” he muttered quietly.

Lili and Rowan exchanged a look. In the week they’d been friends with Ben, they’d found out he was just about afraid of everything. Some of it could be put down to being a Muggle-born exposed to a new world, but really, he just seemed to be anxious over everything.

Rowan dropped a book? He jumped a foot into the air. Lili tapped him on the shoulder in the hallway? He dashed away as fast as he could. Someone yelled suddenly in the Great Hall? He attempted to hide under the table.

He was jumpy at the best of times. Lili could easily imagine he was having trouble with flying.

“It’s just—it’s just all too terrifying. I think the brooms can smell fear.”

Lili raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think brooms can smell.”

“You know what I mean!”

Rowan pushed her glasses up. “He is right, you know. Brooms are very emphatic objects. It has to do with the magic used to make them. My Uncle makes brooms, and my family’s tree farm sells mainly to wand makers, but we also sell to broom makers, so we have a lot of complimentary brooms and I’ve flown a lot. Any time I was upset I always flew worse because the broom could tell.”

“Then I’m never going to fly.” Ben said miserably. “I’m always upset.”

Lili wanted to say, _then don’t be_, but she knew that was rude. “Was there anyone else in your class who wasn’t able to get the broom to fly up?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Plus, Madam Hooch was just making it worse. I know she meant well and was standing by me to be helpful, but it made me panic.”

“Did you tell her that?” Lili asked.

“No.”

“Then maybe try telling her that.”

“But talking to a professor makes me so nervous!”

Rowan gasped. “I know what we can do!”

Ben and Lili were lost. “What are we doing something for?” Ben asked nervously.

“To help you learn to fly!”

“What?” Both Lili and Ben asked.

“I was just thinking that, if you’re nervous, me and Lili could help you not be as nervous! About flying, at least. So you can pass flying class and don’t have to take it again as a second year, or whatever.”

Ben’s eyes went wide. “Would I have to retake the class?”

Rowan shrugged. “I don’t actually know. But do you want to take that chance?”

“No!”

“Then let’s do it! Lili, are you in?”

Lili shrugged. “I like having things to do. Why not?”

“Alright! That’s two against one, we’re doing this, Ben!”

“Wait, don’t I get a vote?”

“No.”

-x-x-x-

They decided to start on Ben’s private Flying lessons on Saturday. Rowan had a whole schedule ironed out within minutes. She had her daily study schedule, and just added an extra hour in so they could help Ben. First step of the plan: read about flying in order to acclimatize Ben to the concept that not everyone dies the second they get up into the air.

As her own first Flying lesson approached on Friday morning, Lili was personally hoping they could have started the lessons earlier. She had barely listened as Professor Snape droned on about everything they had done wrong in their first attempt at brewing Wiggenweld potions, she was so nervous. _Almost as nervous as Ben_, she thought and swallowed a giggle.

Soon, Potions ended and the Slytherin first years hurried towards the field where Flying class took place. This was the most enthusiastic Lili had seen her fellow Slytherins. Most were purebloods like Rowan who loved flying and couldn’t wait to get back onto a broom.

As they headed outside, they passed several Gryffindor’s headed in from Herbology. Lili and Rowan waved at Ben who hesitantly waved back.

“I don’t know why you would hang out with such a _Mudblood_.”

Merula’s voice rang clearly through the yard. More than a few Gryffindors glared at her, and several older students going by gave her cross looks.

She ignored the crowd. “Then again, your brother was a nut, so maybe it isn’t a surprise you’d lower yourself that way.” Merula’s eyes lit up and she smirked. “One’s a Mudblood lover and the other followed Voldemort. What a pair the Brooks siblings are.”

Before Lili could even get her wand or her fists ready, a hand shot out and grabbed Merula’s wrist. Merula clearly wasn’t expecting that and turned to gape at Felix Rosier, who was staring impassively down at her.

“Wh-what are you doing? Let go of me!”

“No.”

“_No_?”

Lili almost laughed. She doubted anyone had ever told Merula _no_ before. She deserved it.

Merula was trying to get away from Felix, but he had her wrist in an iron grip. “Not until you agree to stop saying those words.”

“What words? Mudblood and Vol—”

“Shut up!”

Merula was shocked, as were the few first years still watching the spectacle. Most had hurried off to their next class, but more than a few Slytherin and Gryffindors were watching, open mouthed.

“You will not say either of those words again. The correct terms are _Muggle-born_ and _You-Know-Who_. If I ever hear you say those things again, _you will regret it_.” As he said the last words he leaned down, so his face was only inches away from Merula’s.

Merula, to Lili’s delight, actually seemed cowed. Her eyes were wide, and she had finally gone still, staring at the Prefect in shock.

Felix shook her arm. “Are you going to say those words again?”

Merula’s shock morphed into anger, but even she seemed to realize that yelling at the Prefect wouldn’t end well. “No. I’m not.” She hissed out.

He finally let go of her arm, and Merula pointedly rubbed her wrist. Felix ignored her. “Good.” He turned to stare at the assembled first years, all of whom were still shocked that a Slytherin Prefect would so publicly tell off another Slytherin for using common pureblood terminology. “Do you all want to be late for whatever your next class is? Go.”

The first years scrambled.

Rowan grabbed Lili’s hand, and the two girls sprinted the rest of the way to the Training Grounds.

They got there out of breath, but they weren’t yelled at by Madam Hooch for being the last ones to arrive. As their professor waited impatiently for the rest of the class to stumble in, Lili gave Rowan a bug eyed look.

“Can you believe that?”

“No!”

“Considering his family—”

“I know! It’s just—”

“I knew I liked him!”

“Alright girls! Time to hush up.” Madam Hooch strutted back into class, a few students, Merula included, trailing behind her.

Flying class went well enough to Lili’s relief. She wasn’t like Ben, and her broom flew into her hand well before class ended. Lili felt a twinge of jealously when Rowan’s broom flew up a solid ten minutes before hers, but she pushed that down. She couldn’t be good at everything, and it made sense that Rowan was better at her than this. Rowan had years of practice flying on brooms. Lili smiled at her smiling friend as Madam Hooch complimented her.

The biggest downside to Flying class was the fact that they still had the rest of the school day to finish after completing the class. That day’s lesson wasn’t so bad, but Lili dreaded when they would be doing more athletic maneuvers and she would have to go to lunch and History of Magic drenched in sweat.

The talk of the table during lunch was Felix’s dressing down of Merula. The overall mood to the Prefect’s actions seemed to be negative, at least at Slytherin table.

“I wasn’t there, sorry. I ran as soon as Merula was distracted, but half the first year Gryffindor’s ran into the common room yelling about it ten minutes later. Everyone in Gryffindor was very shocked. They didn’t seem to think Slytherin’s could act that way,” Ben informed them as they sat next to him in History of Magic that afternoon.

Ben seemed to be correct on that. By dinner, the news had spread from the Slytherin table to the other three, and everyone was gossiping about the rare public Slytherin on Slytherin confrontation.

Merula was sulking despite the fact she was getting the attention she craved. Apparently, she only wanted positive attention. Lili couldn’t guess what Felix thought about being the source of gossip for the day. The older Slytherin was too good at hiding his emotions.

Lili, for one, was thrilled at the events of the morning. Hearing that Felix came from a family of Death Eaters had disheartened her. He had seemed nice, and could have possibly been one of the few older kids in Slytherin she could trust, but that had been thrown into doubt. After this morning though, she was happy that her earlier assessment wasn’t misplaced. While she didn’t know if it was for show, since Gryffindors were around, or if he genuinely believed that calling Muggle-borns that words was bad, Lili was just happy someone with power put Merula in her place.

-x-x-x-

School went on. Every Saturday, after two hours of focusing on their regular weekly homework, Rowan would take out a stack of books and read aloud passages relating to flying on brooms. She made sure to read reassuring passages, ones that gave helpful tips and talked about how statistically unlikely someone was to fall to their death.

To Lili’s surprise, and she _was_ surprised if she were being honest with herself, these lessons seemed to genuinely be helping Ben. By the end of September, he had managed to get his broom to fly up. He had managed to do so ages later than everyone else, but Rowan and Lili counted it as a win and celebrated.

The next challenge was getting Ben to lift off the ground. Rowan and Lili renewed their quest, finding every single book on flying in the library. Ben wasn’t as thrilled, but he let the girls do as they pleased. But, even as October wore on, Ben still just stood rigidly through flying class, unable to hover, let alone fly through the air like every other first year had managed.

Inspiration struck Lili in the second half of October.

She woke up that Friday morning excited. It was the 19th, and that meant it was her birthday. Today, she was twelve. She had a full day of classes ahead of her, including her three least favorite classes, plus she wouldn’t be able to spend the whole day with Jenny like she always had before, but she had new friends and she was away from her mother. She was excited for her birthday for the first time in a while.

Lili hummed as she got ready that morning, ignoring Desdemona’s and Vidalia’s irritated glances.

Rowan grinned as Lili skipped out of the bathroom. Lili had done her hair special for once, putting her thin, pale blonde hair up into two braided pigtails. She had even spent an extra minute in front of the bathroom mirror to make sure her bangs were straight and not pulled into the braids.

“Why’re you in such a good mood? You usually hate going to class on Friday.”

Lili beamed at her friend. “It’s my birthday!”

Rowan gasped. “Why didn’t you mention this before? I would’ve gotten you a present!”

Lili paused. “I… didn’t think of it.” She can’t remember ever having to tell anyone her birthday, besides to administrative people. She probably had to, considering Jenny wouldn’t have just known, but that was so long ago she didn’t know how to bring it up.

“Oh.” Rowan paused. “Well, I’ll just get one later to make up for it!”

Lili blushed slightly. “You don’t have to—”

“But I will!”

She giggled. “Fine then. Let’s go to breakfast.”

“Sure! But first, my birthday is May 10th.” Lili nodded solemnly, and tried to remember that date. Rowan then asked a question in total innocence that ruined Lili’s entire mood.

“Oh, are you going to get presents with the owl mail? We can open them at the table!”

Lili went cold. While Rowan had talked nonstop about her parents and her cat, Fuzzclaw, Lili had avoided the topic at any cost. Rowan knew about Jacob, and had likely assumed that was why Lili didn’t talk about her family, but that wasn’t totally true. Jacob was an awful, missing part of her life, but he wasn’t the only one missing. She hadn’t spoken to her father since he had left, and it felt like she hadn’t truly spoken to her mother since Jacob disappeared.

Her good mood was gone. She had wanted to avoid thinking about family and about Jacob. Class, however awful, would have helped her forget. Her birthday two years ago was the last time she had seen Jacob, and was the last time her mother had been whole.

He had gotten expelled three days before her birthday and, in her naivety, she had been so excited. She knew getting expelled from Hogwarts was bad, but she didn’t understand how bad. Lili had just been excited that her beloved older brother was there to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Even then though, that innocence and excitement had quickly faded. Her brother and mother fought constantly, screaming at each other. When Jacob wasn’t yelling in the kitchen, he was locked in his room doing _something_. Lili had tried to go in once and he had snapped at her to leave. Lili had been so shocked then—he had never yelled at her before—that she had turned tail and ran. He had apologized an hour later, and she forgave him instantly.

Jacob had stayed long enough to attend her birthday party before disappearing that night. Lili had gone into his room to tell him good night, only to find the room empty, most of Jacob’s belongings gone, and a window left open, curtains swinging as the wind howled.

Lili knew she wouldn’t get any presents. Her mother would do nothing but cry in her room about how her son was gone and how her life was falling apart. Lili would be forgotten. She would be lucky to get an apology present at Halloween.

Rowan was talking. “Oh, Lili, I’m sorry, I know your family situation is…tricky.”

Lili could barely smile in response. “It’s fine. Let’s just go get some breakfast.”

She perked up as Charms started. It was her favorite class by far, and Professor Flitwick was her favorite professor. She even managed to forget her family troubles when Professor Flitwick announced that next week, they would start enchanting objects with Wingardium Leviosa.

Lili was packing her things up and excitedly chatting with Rowan and Ben (who also had been upset she hadn’t mentioned her birthday earlier) when Professor Flitwick’s voice rang out.

“Ms. Brooks and Ms. Khanna, if you would stay behind please. Just for a moment! Wouldn’t want to make you late to Professor Snape’s class.” He chuckled.

Lili looked at Rowan, but Rowan shrugged, baffled as her.

As the class thinned out, the two walked over to Professor Flitwick’s stack of books that doubled as a podium. “What did you want, Professor?”

He smiled at them. “First of all, happy birthday, Lili! You only turn twelve once!”

Lili’s eyebrows flew up her face. “Thank you?” She didn’t mean for it to sound like a question, but she was shocked that the professor knew her birthday.

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat. “Anyways, I wanted to ask you girls a favor, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not!”

“What is it?”

“Very clever, Ms. Brooks. Always ask what you’re doing first before agreeing.” Lili blushed. “But it is nothing too serious. I just know that you two girls are friends with Ben Copper, and have been helping him with his Flying class.”

They nodded.

“I was just asking if you wouldn’t also mind helping him with his Charms studies. I’ve had Mr. Copper in my office once or twice for one on one help, and I was quite shocked to discover that, sans a loud classroom environment, Mr. Copper was quite talented at Charms. Almost prodigal, in fact! I’ve already had him try out several of the charms you’ll be learning over this semester and he aced them all on the first try, without reading any theory. But, I know that when he’ll be in the classroom full of people to see him…”

“He’ll freak out.” Lili finished for Professor Flitwick.

“Indeed, indeed. I would hate to see his potential go to waste, all because a classroom environment gives him anxiety. I was hoping that if he was able to practice in front of you two, before class, he would be able to perform better in class, bringing both his grade and confidence up.”

“Of course, we’ll help him, Professor Flitwick!” Rowan seemed thrilled at being asked to do something by a professor.

Lili nodded enthusiastically. “We’ll do whatever we can,” she added.

Professor Flitwick beamed. “I’m very glad to hear that. Now let me write something for Professor Snape so he doesn’t penalize you too harshly for showing up late…”

Professor Snape was, of course, awful to them when they showed up late, but the note from Professor Flitwick at least spared them from detention.

For once, Lili couldn’t wait until History of Magic since that was when she saw Ben next. She also silently thanked Professor Flitwick for bringing this up on her birthday. She had something to do, something to focus on that was more important than the past. She wouldn’t have to think about the gaping hole in her heart Rowan had unintentionally opened earlier.

Ben was surprised to hear that he was the reason Professor Flitwick had talked to them.

“Me? He wants you two to tutor me?” Ben looked miserable. “How awful am I doing in my classes?”

“He didn’t mean it like that, Ben!” Rowan pat his shoulder. “He said you were a prodigy!”

“Why would he say that?”

Lili butted in. “He said that you had been to his office for help. And that he had you do actual charms. Is that true?”

“Er—yeah, it is.”

“That’s why! He never would’ve let you try any charms early if he didn’t think you were very good. He just wants to make sure you have enough confidence to do the charms in the classroom.”

“I doubt that will ever happen,” Ben said miserably.

“Stop being so down on yourself. We’re adding Charms to our studying.” Lili’s tone left no arguing, but even still she went for the kill. She lifted her head up. “It’s my birthday request of you, to let us help you.”

At that, Ben gave in. The next afternoon, they were at their usual table in the library. They had flown through their regular homework, getting two essays done, and answering questions for Herbology. After writing down the last answer, Lili opened her copy of _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ to Chapter 7, Wingardium Leviosa.

She had only gotten three paragraphs into reading the history of the spell when an idea came so forcefully into her head, she gasped out loud.

Rowan looked up from her own book, puzzled. “What is it?”

Lili grinned, almost maniacally. She was sure her eyes were bugging out, but she almost didn’t mind, she felt so brilliant.

“I figured out how to help Ben with Flying and Charms class at the same time! Listen here.” She cleared her throat an began to read out loud.

_“The Levitation Charm was invented in 1544 by warlock Jarleth Hobart, who mistakenly believed that he had at last succeeded in doing what wizardkind had so far failed to do, and learnt to fly. _

_“Hobart invited a large crowd of wizards, including the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, to witness his maiden flight. On the 16th of July 1544, Hobart climbed onto the roof of the local church and, after several speeches and a rousing performance of the national anthem, leapt into mid-air. _

_“At first, Hobart appeared to have succeeded. He hung in mid-air for nearly three minutes, until the crowd grew impatient to see him move somewhere. In response to their catcalls, Hobart began to perform vigorous swimming movements which had no effect. Mistakenly believing that he was being hampered by his heavy boots and robes, he took them off and tossed them away. Upon removal of these items, Hobart dropped ten feet, and it became painfully clear to those watching from below that, far from weighing him down, they had been helping to keep him airborne.”_

She waited expectantly for Rowan and Ben to declare her brilliance, but they stare blankly at her. Ben looked even more fearful than before.

“You want me to jump off a church?”

“No!” Lili puffed her cheeks out in exasperation. She closed her book shut with a clap and stood up. “We’re going to the Clocktower Courtyard.”

“What?” Rowan and Ben chorused.

“I’ll explain there, get up!”

Rowan and Ben exchanged a look, but followed her.

Soon, they were standing in the abandoned courtyard. Lili paced back and forth, her arms behind her.

“So, the problem is Ben is afraid of flying and afraid of doing spells in front of people. And when I was reading about the history of the Levitation Charm, the perfect solution jumped out at me!” She stopped and pointed at Ben, who looked alarmed. “Ben just needs to cast the Levitation Charm on himself! Or,” she amended, “on his clothing, rather.”

“I need to what?”

“He needs to what?”

“Think about it! He casts the charm on himself and he proves he can do magic in front of at least two other people. And if he does it right, then he floats which can help with his problems in Flying class.”

Rowan’s eyes finally lit up. “Oh, I’m getting it now. Lili, that is brilliant!”

“Thank you,” Lili replied smugly, glad her brilliant idea was finally being understood.

“I’m not getting it!” Ben was almost affronted that he was yet again not allowed to choose what he wanted to do, yet was too scared to argue with the Slytherins much. “I don’t want to cast a spell on myself.”

“You’re not casting it on yourself,” Rowan said, with more patience than Lili would have had. “You’re casting it on your clothing. And Lili’s right, it is a brilliant way to get you used to being in the air and seeing it’s not too bad. As long as you don’t take your clothing off, you won’t fall!”

It took almost twenty minutes more of arguing, but soon they had worn Ben down. He stood miserably in front of them, his wand out. “Here goes nothing. Wingardium Leviosa.”

To all three kids shock, Ben began to rise. The girls gasped as he rose almost four feet into the air.

Rowan began clapping, and Lili joined in. “Oh, Ben! You did it! You did it!”

Lili smiled up at him, taking in his shocked face. “How’s it feel to float? A broomstick doesn’t seem as bad anymore, does it?”

Ben blinked and looked down. He had the slightest smile on his face. “I—no. Not really.”

Another round of applause went up from both girls.

“Er—Rowan? Lili? How long until I get down?”


	7. Flipendo

Lili had been enjoying her time at Hogwarts, so, of course, Merula had to come and ruin everything.

The next Charms class had gone swimmingly, with Ben managing to be one of the few to correctly cast the Levitation Spell. Lili had beamed when she had also gotten her feather to float.

October turned into November, and Lili and Ben got to experience their first Quidditch match while Rowan continued to be aghast with their lack of knowledge surrounding all things flying.

“You’ve never even listened to a Quidditch game, Lili?”

“Nope.”

“But—but, how?!”

Lili shrugged. “Never really interested.”

“My roommate, Charlie, has done nothing but talk about Quidditch for the past week.” Ben chimed in. “Maybe you could talk to him about Quidditch, Rowan.”

To Rowan’s delight, Slytherin won the first match of the year, and the atmosphere in Slytherin was considerably cheerier through the month of November.

Lili herself couldn’t be happier. Mentions of Jacob had worn down as she became old gossip, and for the first time in years she wasn’t constantly reminded about how her family was broken and missing. Lili was able to be normal. She didn’t have to buy food for herself or spend weeks on her own while pretending her mother was home. The school fed her, and she always had her friends nearby. She was content.

“Gobstones, really? And I thought you losers couldn’t get more embarrassing.”

Merula’s voice ruined any contentedness Lili might have had in that moment.

Lili and Rowan had been in the Clocktower Courtyard, and Rowan had been trying to teach her gobstones. Lili hadn’t even played marbles before, so Rowan was having a rough time teaching. It had been fun, if disgusting, until Merula showed up.

Lili gave her an annoyed glance. “How’d you find this place? Are you stalking us?”

Merula’s face flushed. “I don’t care where you idiots go.”

“The fact that you’re here kind of goes against that.” Lili rolled her eyes.

Merula crossed her arms and sneered as she tried to pull the conversation back into her hands. “Whatever. I just wanted to say that I’m going to find the Cursed Vaults before you.”

Lili stilled and whipped around to stare at Merula. How could she know about the Vaults?

Merula smirked, her edge on the conversation back. “I’ve been researching your brother and those Vaults he was after. Guess when he got busted destroying the school looking for their power, he decided to aim higher and go look for Voldemort.”

Rowan squeaked. “You can’t say that! You can’t say his name! Felix said to shut up about that!”

Merula rolled her eyes. “I can say what I want. And Felix isn’t here to stop me.”

Lili stayed unmoving, but her mind was a whirlwind. How did Merula know about the Cursed Vaults? Lili barely knew about them. All she remembered were stories Jacob had told her when she was little, and then Jacob and their mother arguing about them. Her mother had thought Jacob obsessed with finding the Vaults and that his quest had led to his expulsion.

Merula was still gloating, but Lili didn’t care. “Shut up, Merula. How did you learn about the Vaults?”

“Plenty of upperclassmen are fine with sharing stories of what he did to Hogwarts if they like you.” She sneered. “But no one but your blood traitor friend and your Mudblood pet like you, so you’ll have to find out on your own.”

“Stop saying those things!” Rowan’s voice was high pitched as her eyes darted from Merula to Lili.

Lili realized then that she had her wand out, and that Merula had gotten hers out too. Lili considered putting it down, but decided against it. She doubted Merula would put hers down. It was safer to be prepared, even if she didn’t know many spells.

“I told you, I’ll say whatever I want! I’ll call you a blood traitor, and that Gryffindor a Mudblood, she’s a filthy half-blood, and her stupid half-blood brother works for Voldemort!”

“Shut up, Merula! Shut up!” Lili was on her feet, and angry. “My brother doesn’t work for You-Know-Who and there’s nothing wrong with Ben and Rowan! And if you can say what you want, then so can I, and I say that you should just go to Azkaban to be with your parents! You know, the people who _actually_ worked for You-Know-Who. Maybe the people _there_ will like you better, ‘cause I don’t think anyone _here_ does.”

Lili somewhat regretted saying that immediately as she heard Rowan gasp, but she was too mad to care. She could shrug off Merula insulting her, but she couldn’t let Merula think she could insult Lili’s friends and brother and get away with it. If Merula wanted to tell lies, then Lili could tell the truth.

Merula’s face had gone white. “Take that back right now.” Merula hadn’t yelled it, and there was an odd tone to her voice that Lili hadn’t heard before. Gone was the smugness and mocking lilt. She was deadly serious.

Lili held her head up. “I can say what I want” She said in the most mocking voice she could do.

Merula let out a guttural noise and whipped her wand out. “Take it back!”

Lili held out her own wand. “No.”

“Lili, Merula, please we can work this—”

“Flipendo!”

Lili felt herself flying back and bodily hitting Rowan. Both girls shrieked as they fell down in a tumble of limbs.

Merula’s face was still drawn and white, but the smugness was back in her voice. It was much frailer than usual, but there. She scoffed. “Was that supposed to be a duel? Maybe I was wrong about you being dangerous to Hogwarts considering you can’t even think up one spell.”

Lili put her hand down, then brought it back up when she realized that wasn’t the ground but Rowan’s stomach after Rowan yelped. Somehow, she untangled herself from Rowan and staggered up. Merula had turned and was walking away when Lili yelled the only spell she reliably knew she could do. “Wingardium Leviosa!”

“W-what?” Merula started waving her arms and legs about as she began to float off the ground. “Hey! Let me down!”

“C’mon, Rowan!” Lili dragged her friend up and dragged her out of the Courtyard.

Merula was still struggling in the air. “I’ll get you for this Brooks! Watch your back!”

“Lili!” Rowan gasped out as they ran through Hogwarts corridors. “I can’t believe you said that! I can’t believe you did that!”

“I,” Lili panted out, “can’t really believe it either.”

Eventually they made it down to the dungeons and the Slytherin common room, and booked it to their dorm. Vidalia was in, but she pointed her nose in the air and took out her Herbology earmuffs when she saw them.

Rowan pulled Lili onto her bed, and pulled the curtains around the bed for extra privacy.

“Merula’s going to kill you!”

“She can try.”

“Lili!”

She raised her hands up. “I’m just saying.”

“It’s not a joking matter! Merula isn’t going to like that you used a charm on her.”

Lili nodded. “So, I should learn how to duel then.”

“_What_?”

“If Merula is coming after me, then I should know how to defend myself in case she attacks.” Lili paused to think. “Or hit her before she hits me.”

“No! You should talk to a professor!”

Lili shook her head. “If Merula gets into trouble, that’s just going to anger her even more. We have to do this on our own.”

“_Or_, we should tell a professor or a prefect.”

“Great idea! I’ll ask Felix to teach me how to duel.”

“_What_?”

They argued for at least another hour. Lili had only jokingly suggested learning how to duel, but as she argued, it did seem like the best option. Merula wouldn’t just stop bothering her no matter what decision Lili made, so if she knew how to fight back then at least she could even the playing ground.

The argument finally broke up when Alfred wormed his way through Rowan’s bed curtains and plopped himself onto Rowan’s lap. Lili looked down, annoyed.

“Why does my cat like you better than me? He’s known me since he was a kitten.”

Rowan shrugged, but petting a purring cat brought a halt to the conversation.

“Has Alfred always been your cat?” Rowan asked, some ten minutes later.

“Huh?” Lili had been staring at nothing, replaying the events with Merula over in her head and trying to figure out what other weaknesses Merula had.

“Has Alfred always been your cat?” Rowan repeated herself.

Lili slowly shook her head. “He used to belong to Jacob.” She paused. “When he disappears, I think he’s sneaking off to Jacob’s old room over in the boy’s dormitory.”

Another lengthy pause came between them.

“Do you want to talk about what Merula was saying about your brother?”

“Not really. You already know he would never work for You-Know-Who.” Lili hoped Rowan would drop the subject, but she didn’t.

“What did Merula mean by Cursed Vaults? I’ve read a lot about Hogwarts and I’ve never heard of those.”

Lili wasn’t sure what to say. The Cursed Vaults were a mystery to her too, despite Jacob doing whatever he could to find them. “There’s supposedly a series of vaults under Hogwarts grounds that’s filled with riches and treasures. I don’t think most people who have heard of them believe they exist, but Jacob did. He spent all his time at Hogwarts searching for them. He…” Lili paused, not wanting to continue. She did anyways. She wanted at least Rowan to know. Maybe she could help. “Mum said his search for the Cursed Vaults is what got him expelled. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I’ve heard about him letting curses loose on the school and putting other students in harm’s way, all so he could find the Vaults.”

Lili looked down, and miraculously, Alfred had wound his way over to her, almost as if to comfort her. She patted him gratefully. “They say he was mad and cursed and he came back to Hogwarts to continue his search after he was expelled. Well, the ones who don’t say that he went to look for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, say that he came back to Hogwarts.”

Silence stretched between them once more as Rowan mulled over the information.

“Do you believe the Cursed Vaults are real?”

Lili blinked. Did she? She had never really thought about Jacob’s quest, just about how it had affected her and her family. “I guess… I do? I’ve never really considered it. But I don’t think my brother would spend so much of his time chasing after a fairy tale. He was very focused, but he wasn’t mad like they say.”

She refused to believe her brother was mad or cursed. She couldn’t believe that.

“Are you going to search for the Vaults?”

_What_? Lili stared at Rowan, shocked, eyes in full bug mode.

Rowan seemed to realize she had shocked Lili and became flustered. “I just meant—well, Merula said she was looking for the Cursed Vaults. And she thought you were looking for them too.”

Merula had said that, hadn’t she? Why would she think Lili was looking for the Vaults? Frankly, one of the things Lili had enjoyed most about Hogwarts was the lack of talk of Cursed Vaults. Her mother had constantly gotten letters home about Jacob’s behavior and search for them, and ranted about it to Lili. When Jacob himself was home, he had mentioned them enough for it to stick in Lili’s memory. This was the first time in months Lili had had to think about the Vaults.

“I—no! I don’t plan to look for those stupid Vaults. My brother looking for them is what ruined my life!”

But as she said it, she began to wonder. Did she really not want to look for the Vaults? Merula had researched her brother in her apparent search for the Vaults. Was it just because he was the most recent questor, or something more? Had Jacob really gone back to look for them? Could he have found any of the Cursed Vaults, and that was why he hadn’t come back home?

Would looking for the Cursed Vaults lead her to finding her brother?

“Well, I hadn’t considered it before…”

Was she really considering looking for the Vaults? The same Vaults that had ruined her brother’s life and made him run away? It was beyond idiotic to even consider looking for them.

But if finding them gave her clues about her brother, or if Merula found them first….

“I wouldn’t know where to start looking. If I did want to. Which I don’t.”

Rowan tilted her head. “Did you just talk yourself into looking for the Cursed Vaults?”

Lili closed her eyes, upset at herself. “Maybe.”

-x-x-x-

The two girls were sullen throughout the next week. Lili couldn’t seem to talk herself out of searching for the Vaults, which upset her, and Rowan couldn’t talk Lili out of learning how to duel, which upset _her_. Plus, Merula kept giving them dirty looks throughout their classes and muttering about revenge whenever they walked by. Since they shared every class with Merula, it made for an unenjoyable week.

On Friday, as Lili and Rowan walked out to their Flying lesson, covered in mud from overnight rain, Lili saw her chance to learn something.

She waved one arm wildly above her head and began to trot in a different direction. “Felix!”

Felix’s eyebrows quirked up at the sight of a bedraggled first year cheerfully making her way towards him, but stopped, nonetheless. The two Slytherins he was walking with shared a look and went on without him.

“What do you want, Brooks?”

Lili gave her best endearing smile, the one she always gave to adults who wanted to know where her parents were. “I want to learn how to duel.”

“You want to what?”

“To learn how to duel.”

Felix briefly put a hand to his face. “Every time something comes out of our mouth, I find myself shocked. I should expect the surprise by now.” He sighed. “Why do you want to learn how to duel?”

Lili decided being blunt and truthful would probably work best with Felix. “Merula and I got into a fight, and I know she’s plotting a way to get back at me and I’d like to be able to hold my own or strike at her first.”

She could practically see Felix process all that and struggle with what to do. “If I say no, are you just going to learn on your own?”

Lili shrugged. “Probably.”

“Fine then. Sunday at 10 A.M., go all the way down our common room’s corridor, take two lefts, and there will be a room next to a tapestry of a knight. We can practice there. If you’re late, your only chance is gone.”

“Really? You’ll do it?”

Felix sighed. “I would prefer not to, but it’s better to settle in-house matters on the down low. If dueling will stop you from tattling on Merula to a professor and bringing Slytherin’s reputation down, then I’ll do it.”

Lili beamed. “Thank you, Felix! You won’t regret this.”

“I already do. Now, leave.”

She obeyed, and scampered off to a staring Rowan.

“He really agreed?”

“Yeah! I honestly can’t believe it either….”


	8. The Duel

Friday and Saturday went by in a blur, and soon Lili and Rowan were waiting impatiently in the room Felix had specified. It was a dusty room, but Lili could tell why Felix had picked it. It seemed to be the room Slytherins used for informal dueling practice, as there were scorch marks on the wall, mattresses on the floor, and training dummies to practice on.

When Felix arrived, he raised a single eyebrow at Rowan being there.

“She goes everywhere with me,” Lili piped up. “She won’t be learning anything.”

“No, because this is stupid.” Rowan muttered.

“One of you has sense, then.” Felix remarked with a roll of his eyes. “But two of you works better. You’ll duel each other, as practice.”

“But I don’t want to duel!”

“Don’t care. If you’re here, you’re dueling.”

Rowan opened her mouth then closed it. Her shoulders slumped. “Okay then. I guess I can duel too. It’ll be a learning experience. Fine.”

“Now that the complaining is over, let’s get to it. We’ll start with the Knockback Jinx. Flipendo.” He waved his wand and Lili went soaring through the air, landing on one of the mattresses. She didn’t land on the stone floor, but it still hurt.

“Merula used that spell!” Rowan said, as Lili stood back up.

“Because it’s the easiest dueling spell to learn. Stand like this.” He glanced at Rowan. “_Both_ of you.”

That day’s lesson didn’t get much better. Felix threw them onto the mattresses several more times, then got them to try to knock each other back. Lili was pleased that she got it fairly quickly, but Rowan’s jinx only made Lili wobble slightly at its best. Through it all, Felix calmly corrected stance or pronunciation, and talked about what other jinxes and hexes he could teach them. She thought she heard her name said a few times while Felix helped Rowan, but she shrugged that off.

“Sorry, sorry.” Lili said again, as she helped Rowan up almost two hours later.

“It’s fine.” Rowan teetered for a second, but stood her ground. “You did what you meant to do.”

Felix watched them with his arms crossed. “And that’ll be it for today. We’ll meet again Wednesday at 5 exactly, and this time again next Sunday.”

Rowan stretched. “Oh, good! I’m hungry and it should be lunch time. I wanted to ask though, where’d you learn all these spells, Felix? We haven’t heard of any of these in Charms.”

He rolled his eyes. “Not yet, but you will learn it in your second year Charms class. You can learn it in first year through Defense, but I hear you first years aren’t doing any practical magic there.”

Lili grumbled slightly at that. Despite having the exciting name of Defense Against the Dark Arts, the class had been almost as boring as History of Magic.

“But I learned these spells mainly from older students, or through the Dueling Club.”

“There’s a Dueling Club?” Lili asked.

Felix nodded. “Occasionally. Currently, there are four Dueling Clubs, one for each house, but Professor Flitwick thinks they can reopen the schoolwide club in a year or two.”

“Why is the schoolwide club closed?”

“Why do you think? The war, you idiot.”

“Oh.”

Lili could understand that. She knew Slytherin house would’ve been ganged up on by the other three if inter-house dueling had been allowed.

“Wait,” Rowan’s voice interrupted Lili’s thoughts. “Did you say Professor Flitwick?”

“Yes. He runs the club.”

“_Professor Flitwick_?”

Lili could understand where Rowan was coming from. She wouldn’t have expected the cheerful professor to head a club about dueling.

Felix sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Lili thought he was being overdramatic. “As I said, yes, he runs the club. He used to be a competitive dueler, you know. Won a few championships.”

Lili had not, and she could tell Rowan hadn’t either.

Felix opened the door. “Now I’m going to go and have lunch. Hopefully, I don’t have to see either of you until Wednesday.” He left.

Rowan wandered over to the sole bookcase in the room, and picked out a book. She slowly paged through it.

“_Dancing Feet Charm, Deprimo, Disarming Charm_, wow there’s a lot to learn here… I don’t think Felix will mind if I borrow this book. It’s in an unused classroom, so it’s probably free to borrow—Lili are you okay?!”

Lili swayed as her vision went white. Images bombarded her mind. A silvery white suit of armor taking a step forward. A pale staircase covered in mist. Deadly ice creeping forward, covering more and more ground of what Lili instinctively knew to be Hogwarts.

_The ice is here. The Vault will open_.

“—Lili! Lili, are you okay?”

“Rowan?”

“Oh, thank Merlin, you’re okay!”

“Did you see that?”

“What?”

“There were images in my mind, a suit of armor, and a staircase, and ice spreading over Hogwarts and—and there was a voice!”

“Lili, are you okay? Do you need to visit Madam Pomfrey? You were half conscious for almost five minutes.”

“_The ice is here. The Vault will open_. That’s what it said.” Lili’s eyes were wide. “Can Cursed Vaults give you visions? Is that why my brother was so obsessed with them? Or—or am I just mad?”

Rowan gaped. “What? No, you’re not mad! That—”

“Then why did someone else’s voice just speak to me in my head?”

“Maybe—maybe the Cursed Vaults do give visions. They’re cursed and magical, it’s not improbable for that to happen. Are you okay? You scared me.”

Lili realized then that she was crying, and likely had been throughout the whole conversation. Her brain thudded in her head, feeling too big and about to explode from pressure, but she tried to stand up anyways.

She swayed, and Rowan helped her sit down. She hadn’t expected that vision, and it had shaken her to her core. Lili wasn’t sure if she wanted to even search for the Vaults, not totally, but this vision seemed to give her no choice. She had to know what the vision meant, and why she had it.

-x-x-x-

Lili had a headache for a week after her vision. It was hard to go to classes and her secret dueling lessons, but she didn’t want to stop by the Hospital Wing. She didn’t know how Madam Pomfrey would react and she couldn’t take any chances.

Rowan spent the time between dueling lessons either reading her borrowed book on dueling spells, or trying to figure out what Lili’s vision meant. She had even dragged Lili to the library outside of their scheduled study time so they could find a book on divination and see if that made anything clearer. It didn’t help much, but Lili felt better knowing Rowan wasn’t dismissing what her vision and didn’t think Lili was going mad.

They agreed not to tell Ben about the vision, but they did tell him about the lessons.

“You can practice with us,” Lili offered. “I don’t think Felix will teach a Gryffindor, but you’re great at Charms and it’s useful to train against as many different people as possible.”

Ben wildly shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m good without any dueling in my life.”

Lili and Rowan went to more secret dueling lessons, all of which were similar to the first. Felix would use the spell on them, then force them to practice on each other while he watched and corrected. Luckily, none of the lessons were as painful as the Knockback Jinx had been. The Disarming Charm made them bend down a lot, and the Dancing Feet Charm left their legs aching, but they weren’t bodily thrown through the room.

Two weeks, and five lessons later, Felix halted the lesson halfway through.

“Alright. Now let’s see what you’ve learned. Duel each other.”

Lili looked at Felix, then at Rowan. “Like, we have to think of what spell to use all on our own?”

“That’s what dueling usually entails.”

Suddenly, she was nervous. Before, it had been practicing spells Felix said to do. No thinking involved. Lili shuffled into position and Rowan did the same across her.

They stared at each other for some time, while Felix made impatient noises on the sidelines. Neither wanted to potentially hurt their friend, even if the spells they had learned so far were all mostly harmless.

Eventually Lili raised her arm but couldn’t think of what spell to say. While she hesitated, Rowan spoke first.

“Rictusempra!”

Lili began giggling, but not too much. It seemed Rowan’s own nervousness had made her jinx weaker than usual. Lili raised her wand and stuttered out _Expelliarmus_ between giggles. Rowan’s wand fell from her hands and landed at her feet.

Felix had his face in his hands. “That was the saddest duel I’ve ever seen.”

“I didn’t want to hurt her!” Lili and Rowan chorused, before grinning at each other. Felix sighed.

“Whatever. Try again. And you can’t use Rictusempra or Expelliarmus.”

The girls readied themselves again. This time Lili went first. “Flipendo!”

Rowan went flying back, and dropped her wand on the way. She poked her head up and Lili was glad to see a smile on her face. “You were really quick that time! Nice job!”

Lili smiled back at her friend, pleased. “Thank you.”

Felix continued to make them duel, and was exasperated whenever they were too hesitant or polite. He cut them off at the usual two hours mark.

“These playdates have been lovely, but I’m putting them on hold until after the break.”

Lili jumped up from where she had been knocked down by Rowan’s Flipendo. “What? Why?”

“I believe all three of us have exams we should be studying for.”

He had a point. The Christmas holidays were coming up, which meant Lili had exams happening around the same time in most of her classes.

Lili reluctantly nodded. “Alright. Thank you for teaching us all this, Felix.”

Felix didn’t show any regard to her thanks. “I’m just making sure Slytherin doesn’t get in trouble because of you.”

Lili grinned cheekily. “Of course. And that’s the only reason.”

He rolled his eyes, and opened the door. “Whatever you want to think, Brooks.”

Rowan hooked an arm around Lili’s. “I think Felix is right! Exams are coming up, and dueling practice is taking a lot of time that could be devoted to studying for them! Let’s go get our textbooks!”

Lili laughed, and let Rowan lead her along despite not really wanting to study. But she’d do it for her friend.

-x-x-x-

Rowan’s increased study time was at least helpful. The end of semester exams were almost easy to Lili. She made sure her Potions exam was turned in under Lilith, since Snape always seemed to slash her grade in half whenever she wrote her name as Lili, and was relieved that he left her alone most of the class, preferring to ignore his students and sit at his desk. Charms went by quickly and Lili was one of the first done. She yawned through Astronomy—Lili hated having to be up at night instead of sleeping—but she was confident she placed everything correctly on the chart.

The only class where she thought she might not do well was Herbology. It had perhaps been a mistake pairing with Tonks and Penny that first day, since none of them were good at Herbology and they always got into trouble with Professor Sprout for talking. Lili struggled through that exam, and from their faces, Rowan, Penny, and Tonks didn’t seem happy with the exam either.

The four of them trudged across the snowy Hogwarts grounds, chatting about how they hoped Professor Sprout wouldn’t fail them horribly, when a group of first year Hufflepuff boys darted in front of them. “A fight between a Gryffindor and Slytherin is going on in the courtyard!” One shouted back at them, sounding gleeful.

“A fight?” Penny sounded worried. “Why do they sound so happy about a fight?”

Tonks laughed. “Because fights are fun! Let’s go see who’s fighting.”

“If I’m going, it’s only to break up the fight,” Penny said firmly, and the two Hufflepuffs hurried off, following where the boys had gone.

Lili and Rowan followed slowly behind them. Lili’s thoughts were whirling, and one look at Rowan’s expression said she was likely thinking the same thing as Lili.

“You don’t think Ben—”

“He wouldn’t voluntarily fight but Merula—”

They broke into a run.

The nearest courtyard was had a large group of loud first years bunched together in one corner. Penny was trying to push her way through, but the crowd seemed to understand she wanted to stop the fight and no one let her through. In the center of the crowd, Lili’s fears turned out to be true.

Merula stood with her hands on her hips, laughing. Above her, Ben had been hung off the edge of a statue decorating the courtyard. Given how rigidly he dangled, and how he didn’t seem to be struggling, Lili would guess that Merula had cast the Full Body-Bind Curse on Ben before hanging him up. Her anger flared.

“You’re a loser! Disgusting _Mudbloods_ like you shouldn’t be allowed at Hogwarts, especially ones who are such failures.”

“Shut up, Merula!”

The crowd had gasped when Merula said Mudblood, and gasped again when Lili shouted as she shoved her way through the crowd, considerably less politely than Penny. She made her way through and stood in front of Ben as well as she could. Behind Merula, she could see Rowan and Penny hovering at the front of the crowd, having followed the opening she had made when she shoved kids aside.

Merula sneered. “How pathetic, Copper. Needing a _freak_ to help you out.”

“I _said_, shut up, Merula.”

Lili wasn’t really one to stand up for people. She had never done so publicly before. The only reason why she ever would was if the person was her friend. And Lili was surprisingly fond of Ben. She hadn’t wanted to really befriend him and had mainly done so out of pity, but Ben turned out to be nice. A bit too timid, maybe, but he counted as a friend.

Also, she hated Merula with the passion of a thousand suns. If she ever did bother to stand up for a stranger, it probably would be so she could hit Merula.

Maybe it was time to finally put Felix’s dueling lessons to good use. She held out her wand, warningly.

“Are you going to fight me?” Merula laughed. “I’m sure that will go well for you, Half-blood. Why don’t you follow your brother and go missing?”

“Why don’t you follow your parents and go to Azkaban?” Lili sneered, mimicking Merula’s tone.

The crowd gasped. Lili could faintly see Rowan shaking her head, and Penny had disappeared, but she ignored them. Her anger was saying to focus on Merula.

Merula seemed to be shaking lightly. “That’s the last time you say that, Brooks. _Flipedo_!”

Lili stumbled back, but she kept her feet on the ground. The crowd shrieked and a chant of _fight, fight, fight_ went up.

“Tarantallegra!”

Merula’s legs began to do a jig, and her face flushed as a roar of laughter went up from the crowd.

“Is—is that all you have, Brooks?” Merula steadied her wand as best as she could while her legs continued to dance around. “Flipendo.”

Lili fell this time, and the crowd laughed again as she fell on her butt. She raised her wand and said as forcefully as she could, “_Expelliarmus_!”

Merula’s wand went flying and fell somewhere into the crowd, which _oooh_’ed in excitement. The brunette stared blankly at her still clenched hand where her wand should have been.

Lili carefully hauled herself up, and stood with her shoulders squared. “What will it take for you to stop bullying other students, Merula? Or to apologize to Ben?”

Merula’s legs finally had stopped dancing, and she seemed to accept the fact her hand no longer held her wand and she wouldn’t be able to get it back in time to continue the duel. She yanked her arm down, and balled her hands into fists at her side.

“Nothing! If there continue to be _losers_ and _freaks_, like you and the Mudblood, I won’t stop!” Here, Lili noticed movement behind Merula and her eyes went wide. She took a step back in shock, but Merula kept ranting, not noticing any new arrivals. “I’m going to keep reminding them that I’m better than them and that I’m the best witch at Hogwarts! I’ll do whatever I—"

“Ahem.”

Merula jumped into the air and whirled around. Behind her were Professors Snape and Flitwick. Behind _them_, stood Penny, who Lili guessed had run off to find a professor to stop Merula. Most of the crowd had scattered as they noticed the professors approaching.

“P—professor Snape!” Merula stuttered out, and Lili laughed in her head at that. She tried to hide the grin that bubbled up, and was only mildly successful, with a smirk coming to her lips. Both professors seemed to notice and suddenly their attention was on her.

“Do you find this funny, Brooks?” The few people left in the crowd were silent as Professor Snape glowered. “Dueling between students is strictly forbidden outside of clubs with authorization and a Professor present.”

“N—no, Professor Snape,” Lili squeaked out, anger and pride over defeating Merula gone.

He gave her a nasty stare. “I’m sure this duel starting all your fault, too. I’ll be sure to recommend expulsion to the Headmaster for that.”

Lili’s heart plummeted as he spoke. She was so shocked and scared she just gaped at him, unable to defend herself.

“Now, now, Severus, it’s not good to assume such things before we know what happened.” Professor Flitwick chimed in, and Lili could breath again. The diminutive professor looked around at the gathered students. “Now, how did all this start?”

The kids all started speaking over each other.

“Merula went first!”

“Merula was being awful to Ben—”

“Lili was standing up to her—”

“Don’t expel Lili!”

Professor Flitwick somehow took in all that yelling. “See, Severus? It seems Ms. Snyde here was the instigator of the duel.” He glanced up. “And is the reason, Mr. Copper is hanging off a statue.” He waved his wand and Ben unstiffened and floated to the ground. Ben looked mortified, but Lili was glad he was unhurt.

Professor Snape was gnashing his teeth together. “Regardless of who started this, you both are in big trouble. Brooks, Snyde, since I happen to know that both of you will be staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, you will report to me at nine in the morning on the first day of the break. Do not be late.” He swung around, black robes billowing menacingly, and left, students scrambling to get out of his way.

“Well,” Professor Flitwick tugged at the lapels of his robe. “Professor Snape seems to have things in hand, and is no longer considering expulsion, so I’ll let you girls report to him.” He fixed them both with a surprisingly hard stare. “Do not be starting unauthorized duels again, Ms. Snyde! And don’t fight back, Ms. Brooks. If you see a fight starting, please do what Ms. Haywood here did, and find a professor to put an end to it.” He smiled at Penny who gave a nervous smile back. “Fifteen points to Hufflepuff, for Ms. Haywood doing the proper thing in this situation.” He glanced back at Lili and Merula. “And fifty points from Slytherin for unauthorized dueling.”

Professor Flitwick then left, and what remained of the crowd dispersed with him, the Hufflepuffs significantly happier than the Slytherins.

Merula whirled back around to glare at Lili. “This isn’t over, Brooks.” She stomped out of the courtyard, leaving Lili, Rowan, Penny, and Ben behind.

“Are you okay, Ben?” Rowan asked, and Lili turned around to look at the Gryffindor. His shoulders were slumped, and he seemed to have tears in his eyes, but he seemed unhurt. He sniffled.

“Mostly. Mainly just embarrassed. Maybe—”

“_Don’t_ say Merula was right.” Lili said forcefully, startling Ben into looking up. “She’s never been right about anything ever.”

“Lili! I’m so sorry for getting you into trouble, but I was worried about Ben…” Penny trailed off and wrung her hands together.

Lili sighed. “It’s fine, Penny. Detention probably isn’t too bad.”

“I don’t know why Professor Snape was so awful! He’s never been anything but nice to me.”

The other three gave Penny a look. “I think your definition of nice could use some tweaking, Penny.” Lili said.

Penny shook her head, the two blonde braids resting on her chest swaying slightly. “Agree to disagree. He’s very helpful if you like potions.” She turned to look at Ben. “I can walk you to the Great Hall? Or to the Hospital Wing if you prefer, or wherever you want.”

Ben began to shake his head, but Penny looped an arm through his and began walking away, anyways. He went slightly red, but let her pull him away. She stopped and looked back when they reached the entrance to the corridor, however.

“Oh, and Lili?” She smiled and Lili’s stomach flip flopped slightly. “Thank you for standing up to Merula. This time, and the times before. Hogwarts is supposed to be fun, and she’s been making it awful. I don’t believe I’ve said that before now, but I’ve been thinking it for forever. You’re a good person, and I hope Professor Snape doesn’t punish you too harshly. If you ever need help, feel free to ask me for anything.”


	9. A Curious Corridor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait! This whole fic is done, but I like to write then edit at a later point, and November is my busiest month of the fall semester so I haven’t had any time to edit. I go on break in about a week and a half though, so this story should be fully posted in December, and the sequel will be up right after!

“You’re not going home for the holidays?” Rowan asked as they entered their room.

“What? Oh, no. I’m not.” Lili hadn’t even considered going home. She knew her mother was going to be in America over break, and she hadn’t talked to her father in years. There wasn’t a place for her to go to.

“You didn’t tell me?” Rowan looked hurt and Lili was surprised. She didn’t understand why Rowan would be upset over this.

“Why would I?” Rowan flinched back, and Lili at least knew that might’ve been a tad insensitive.

“Because I’m your friend. If you were staying over, I would’ve stayed behind too so you wouldn’t get lonely.”

Lili gaped at her friend. She hadn’t expected that response. “I didn’t think you’d want to. You’ve been really excited about visiting your family in India.”

Rowan sniffled. “I would’ve stayed behind for you.”

Lili had no response to that. It had never occurred to her that Rowan cared that much. “It—it’s fine, Rowan. I’m used to being alone.”

“Oh, that makes it worse!”

“Besides,” Lili added hastily. Rowan looked like she was about to burst into tears. “I won’t be too alone. I’ve seen the sign-up sheet for staying over, there’s quite a few Slytherins staying over. No one in our room, but a dozen or two others are.”

“Yes, but they’re not friends,” Rowan said softly. Lili had no reply for that.

-x-x-x-

Lili felt stares on her back for the rest of the week. Her fellow Slytherins were giving her dirty looks, but kids from the other houses seemed to be looking at her with something almost like respect. She tried to ignore all of them.

Rowan started worrying about her again Friday afternoon, as she triple checked everything she needed for the holidays was packed.

“It’s just—are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Lili suppressed a sigh. “I’m sure, Rowan. Have a good holiday in India, okay?”

Rowan fretted some more, but eventually she ran off, almost late for getting on the Hogwarts Express.

For all staying at Hogwarts for Christmas was depressing, Lili had to admit it was nice having the dorm all to herself. She spent the time until dinner lounging around the dorm, and resisting the urge to go through Desdemona’s and Vidalia’s left behind belongings.

The difference in how many students stayed over during the holidays was obvious the second Lili set foot in the Great Hall for dinner that night. There were maybe two dozen students total from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor combined, while Slytherin had the same amount on its own. She felt uncomfortable as she sat down, far away from anyone else, at the Slytherin table. Most of the kids in Slytherin likely stayed over for similar reasons as Merula—their parents were Death Eaters who were killed or imprisoned during the war. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“I see we have a good number of students staying over this Christmas holiday.”

Lili looked up as Professor Dumbledore stood at his podium, apparently giving a speech.

“There will be no classes over break, so you are free to do whatever you want, but do remember that all school rules are still in effect. If caught breaking them, you can still serve detention over break.” There was a twinkle in his eye, and Lili swore he glanced over at the Slytherin table. She slumped in her seat and scowled. “Now, let’s eat! _Bon appetit_!”

She ate quickly, not really wanting to spend time in the Great Hall, no matter how beautifully decorated it was. It had been done up spectacularly, an explosion of red and green and Christmas trees. Lili liked it, but she didn’t want to spend time with Slytherins who hated her.

Eventually, Lili stuck a few rolls in her robe sleeves and left, hurrying off to her dorm where she’d be alone. She spent the rest of the night reading and eating the rolls, dreading at what detention Professor Snape might have cooked up for her the next morning.

She woke the next morning at her usual time out of habit. She slowly stumbled through her morning routine, and she was acutely aware of how much lonelier the morning was when Rowan wasn’t there, chattering away.

Breakfast wasn’t any cheerier, and even less populated than dinner the night before, and eventually Lili trudged to the west wing of the fourth floor. Professor Snape had sent a note yesterday saying that was the meeting point and Lili had triple checked that it was actually his writing this time.

It took a while to find the still life of peaches Professor Snape had told her to meet him by. When she saw Merula already there, looking as grumpy as usual, she let out a silent breath of relief. There was still a part of her that thought Merula would try the fake note from Professor Snape trick again.

Merula gave her a dirty look as Lili walked up, but blessedly said nothing. They only had to wait a minute for Professor Snape to show up, and Lili was suddenly very glad she had gotten there before him. His expression seemed even more severe than usual, and she knew he would’ve given her extra work if she had shown up after him.

Professor Snape didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “I thought that expulsion would be the best option for illegal dueling outside of class, but the Headmaster and Professor Flitwick thought that too extreme. Instead you will be spending every morning of the Christmas holidays, except for Christmas Day, doing whatever Mr. Filch wants you to do.” He fixed Lili with a cold stare. “If you are caught dueling again, the punishment will not be so lenient a second time.”

Lili and Merula both nodded. Professor Snape turned to peer down the corridor. “When Mr. Filch arrives, I will hand you over to him and wash my hands of this business.”

They waited an uncomfortable and silent five minutes for Filch to arrive. Lili didn’t know what to expect. She had never really interacted with Hogwarts’s Caretaker before. He usually spent his time polishing portrait frames and yelling at Tonks, so Lili had easily avoided him so far.

Eventually, he hobbled up. From Tonks’s description of her detentions, she would have expected him to be excited at getting to punish two students for two weeks straight, but instead he had an almost nervous expression on his face.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lili noticed Merula tense and straighten up. Lili gave her a calculating look, wondering why she would suddenly have that body language then.

Professor Snape also seemed to straighten. “You are late, Filch.”

Filch looked at him briefly, then looked over his shoulder. “I was getting ready to come here and think up tortures for the brats, but I was doin’ my morning rounds and…” He hesitated, and said in what was probably meant to be a whisper. “Passed some ice, has to do with those Vaults.”

Lili’s eyes went wide, and she could see a grin sneak up on Merula’s face. Filch had found something to do with the Vaults? And the Cursed Vaults did have something to do with ice. Lili remembered her vision from a few weeks back, and how ice had been covering Hogwarts in it.

Professor Snape turned to look at the two girls, his dark eyes hard. “Stay here. Filch and I have something to examine and we will be back in no more than ten minutes. If I find you have followed us, or left this corridor in anyway, I will make sure that this detention will continue on to the end of the year.”

He swept away, Filch following, and Lili and Merula were silent until they were out of sight.

A grin was on Merula’s face. “Filch must’ve found something on the Cursed Vaults!” She immediately began walking in the direction Professor Snape and Filch had gone.

“What are you doing?” Lili hissed out.

Merula paused, and contemptuously looked over her shoulder. “Following them, duh. You’re not?” She raised an eyebrow. “And here I thought you cared about what your brother did during his time at Hogwarts.”

She continued walking, and Lili stomped the ground once and followed. Lili wanted to say something, whether a question or an insult she wasn’t sure, to Merula, but she felt that if she spoke, then Professor Snape would hear, and she would get more detention.

They went down two flights of stairs, which luckily didn’t move around, until they came to a dimly lit corridor hidden away off a main corridor. The place seemed fairly disused, and it seemed much colder than the rest of the castle. Was it because it was winter, or was there ice from a Cursed Vault lowering the temperature?

Merula hid behind a column decorating the wall, and Lili flattened herself against the wall behind her.

Professor Snape and Filch were talking, their voices carrying in the drafty hall.

“Does anyone else know of this?”

“Only me and Mrs. Norris saw the ice, sir. Was going to tell the Headmaster after I showed you.”

“I’ll inform Professor Dumbledore about this. It may have to do with the Brooks situation.”

Lili snuck a peak at the two men, her eyes wide. _The Brooks situation_? Did they mean her or her brother? Her heart beat loudly in her chest. She was glad she followed Merula now. If she didn’t get an answer immediately about her brother and the Vaults, now she at least knew where to start looking.

Filch was speaking. “Is it true what they say, sir? That them Cursed Vaults are filled with thousand-year-old treasures from before Hogwarts existed? And that’s why that dreaded Brooks boy lost his mind trying to find them?”

Merula’s eyes glittered at that. Obviously, she was after the treasure and the glory that came with it. Lili frowned. She didn’t like Filch’s implications of her brother. He never lost his mind, and even then, he wouldn’t have lost it looking for some fabled treasure. Lili had never known him to be obsessed with material items. She had always been the hoarder between the two of them.

“Do not worry about what is inside the Vaults, Filch. Worry about keeping students out of it. We’ll have to rope off this corridor and make it inaccessible until further notice.”

Merula made a sudden move and dashed out the door, as quietly as she could. Lili followed, with a glance over her shoulder. Professor Snape had his wand out and was waving it around. Filch watched for a second, then turned as Lili slipped out the door. The two girls ran at top speed back to the peach portrait.

“Another clue,” Merula panted out, then barked out a laugh. “Finally!”

“You’re really searching for the Cursed Vaults?” Lili tried to regulate her breathing. If she was panting like Merula, then Filch would know she had been out of the corridor. “I thought my brother was mad for doing that.”

Merula smirked. “I won’t explain myself to you.”

Lili rolled her eyes.

Filch came around the corner then, rags and two buckets in one hand and his cat trotting behind him.

“Alright then, you brats! You’re going to be cleaning this corridor today. Now get going, or I’ll get permission from the Headmaster to use lethal measures.”

-x-x-x-

Lili was exhausted when Filch finally let them go for lunch. She had cleaned without magic before, but never for hours straight and for such a large area. Her arms felt too heavy yet weightless.

She ate the weirdly large sandwiches on the Slytherin table, then went back to her dorm and took a nap, glad that there were no classes or people to bother her. It was a restless sleep, and her arms hurt more when she woke up, leaving Lili more irritable than she had been before she went to bed.

And without food or sleep to distract her, all she could think about was what Professor Snape and Filch had found and talked about. The Brooks situation. What could that possibly mean? Were they monitoring her? Were they monitoring her _brother_? Was it possible they knew where he was?

Lili honestly hadn’t wanted to go looking for the Cursed Vaults. While she was firm on her belief that Jacob hadn’t gone _mad_ searching for them, she could admit, at least now, that the search had changed him. Lili was similar to Jacob in that they were both intense about following things through. If she started looking for the Vaults, a small piece of her knew she would just end up in the same situation as her brother. She was scared.

But then the vision came. And if nothing else, Lili wanted to know why and how she got that. She hadn’t told Rowan at the time, but throughout her childhood Lili had sometimes heard things that weren’t there. Snatches of conversations, meaningless things. Before the vision had come, she had heard her name being called though. She had dismissed hearing her name the same way she had dismissed those childhood thoughts, but…

She didn’t know where to go with that line of thought. She had no clue what it could be, even after weeks of her and Rowan researching visions and divination. There were so many things to keep track of and so few ways to make sense of them.

She curled up on her bed and stared at Alfred lying on Rowan’s pillow. She needed to talk things over with Rowan, but Rowan wasn’t there. Lili could send a letter, but she didn’t want to ruin Rowan’s holiday. She also didn’t know where in India Rowan was, which was probably the bigger obstacle.

Lili sighed and turned on her back to stare up at the canopy of her bed, as if that would give her answers. The Vaults, the vision, the Brooks situation… it was too much for a twelve-year-old.

She needed to know what Professor Snape meant by “the Brooks situation.” In all likelihood, figuring that out probably meant looking for the Cursed Vaults.

So, she needed to find the Cursed Vaults. Primarily to figure out why she was given a vision about them, but also on the off chance finding the Cursed Vaults could help her find her brother.

Lili closed her eyes. It all came back to the Vaults. Everything in her life did. Maybe those stupid Vaults would ruin her life. Well, whatever. If the Cursed Vaults tried to break her, she’d fight back. She needed answers and she was going to get them.

-x-x-x-

Lili continued working for Filch every morning, mainly doing his job of cleaning Hogwarts. Somehow, her arms had hurt more that second day, and even more after the third day. Eventually, the pain became a dull ache she was used to, and she started cleaning faster.

Her and Merula spent the detentions pointedly not talking to each other. They cleaned in opposite directions and glared whenever they got too close to each other. The second Filch reluctantly said they could leave, they left as fast as they could to avoid the other. Lili was fine with this. She had spent more time with Merula than she ever cared to.

Lili spent her afternoons being bored to tears and doing something different each day in order to alleviate that boredom. Lili hated being idle, and with no class or punishment or friends to help her focus, she was everywhere, doing everything.

One afternoon she spent knitting scarves, the day after she did all the homework assigned over break in one go. Another afternoon, she spent the whole period it was light outside, trying to find cool items buried under the snow. On yet another afternoon, she went to the library and read as many books as she could in one sitting.

An afternoon a few days before Christmas, she spent the day packaging up everything she had made and intended to send out to her friends and family. When she got up to the Owlery, she was surprised to see the strange haired Ravenclaw who was Professor McGonagall’s star pupil sitting there with owls perched all over him. They flew away when she walked in, and he stormed out of the Owlery without even saying a word to her, hitting her shoulder as she stood in the doorway, confused.

_That was rude_, she thought to herself, but ignored the weird, solitary Ravenclaw and busied herself with finding owls up to long trips. She sent a present of a dark green scarf to the Khanna tree farm, for Rowan to open when she got back. A package of chocolate frogs was sent to Ben’s house. She made sure to find the smartest owl for the next trip, as the owl needed to be able to slip the package through the mail slot and not fly in through a window. Once she thought the owl understood, she sent him flying off to give Jenny a small crochet frog.

She hadn’t known what to give her mother. Lili never knew. In the end, she had made a teal and red scarf for her. Finding an owl that could make a trip across the ocean to America was tricky, but eventually Lili watched that owl fly away too.

To her surprise, she woke up Christmas morning with six presents at her feet. She had expected the three from her family—from her mother, uncle, and grandmother—but was happy to see presents from Rowan and Ben, and downright delighted to see something from Jenny. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get her muggle friends gift that year.

Her grandmother and uncle’s gifts were the same as every year. Ten galleons from Grandmother Silvia, and a completely out of touch gift from Uncle Victor. This year it was a journal with a very pink cover that apparently gave advice if you asked specific questions it was charmed to answer. Last year, he had gotten her a stuffed unicorn.

Her mother’s gift was a muggle snow globe of notable New York City buildings, paired with a similar wizarding one that changed color depending on the time of day. Currently, the snow globe was a deep blue, since it was still night over in America. Some people might not be happy getting obvious tourist knickknacks from their parent, but Lili loved those things. She beamed as she carefully put both snow globes on her trunk.

Lili laughed at Jenny’s gift of a pack of twelve scrunchies in horrid neon shades. She made sure to pull her hair up into a spectacularly ugly orange and green scrunchie for her friend.

Rowan had sent a book on wizarding international relations, alongside some Indian sweets made by her great-grandmother. Ben had similarly sent sweets, but English, muggle ones.

She spent the morning skimming the book Rowan had given her—it was too dense for an actual reading—and eating the sweets she had been given. It was nice to stay in bed for once, after weeks of waking up at seven thirty, either for class or for detention.

Dinner in the Great Hall blew her away that night. The afternoons of boredom were almost worth the feast alone. Everyone was in a cheery mood, even the usually dour Slytherins. Lili made sure to take two party poppers back to her dorm so she could pull them with Rowan and Ben when she saw them next.

She went to sleep in a good mood that was instantly ruined when she woke up the next morning and realized she still had another week of morning detention. Lili groaned into her pillow, ready for classes to start back up and detention to be over.


	10. Getting Out, Getting In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I’m on break I can finally finish this and get the sequel up! <3

Despite the snow and the mud, Lili had happily tramped down to the Hogsmeade Station to greet her friends when they arrived back to school. The walk took almost two hours, but the scenery was untouched and beautiful, so Lili didn’t mind too much. Plus, Rowan’s squeak of excitement at seeing her brightened Lili’s day even as she was nearly knocked over by Rowan’s enthusiastic hug.

“Did you walk all the way down here? That’s crazy! Oh, but I’m so glad you did, I’ve missed you so much! I have so much to tell you about India, and I got a bunch of new books about all sorts of topics and I can tell you about those too.” Rowan finally let go of her neck. “And you can tell me everything you did too! I’m so excited to learn what Hogwarts is like when there’s no classes to be had! You’ll have to say every detail you can remember, okay?”

Lili laughed and nodded, so grateful to hear Rowan’s chatter after a few silent weeks. “Hey, Ben.”

Ben smiled, small but genuine. “Hi, Lili.”

They made their way back to Hogwarts by carriages that moved by themselves, chatting all the while. Lili was eager to hear how their breaks were since hers was so boring, except for that first day. She was bursting to tell Rowan about it, and perhaps even Ben, but she didn’t want to do it in front of a crowd. Their usual courtyard had been inaccessible ever since it started to snow in earnest, but they still had Ben’s Artefact Room for talking about secrets. It was cramped, but no one ever seemed to go into it anymore, and it wasn’t so bad once they took the spider out of the room.

Lili and Rowan waved goodbye to Ben when they reached the castle, him going wherever Gryffindors went, while they went down to the dungeons. There was already a group of Slytherins heading into the common room, and they tagged on behind them.

The common room was surprisingly loud as friends met back up after two weeks of being away. Lili grabbed Rowan’s hand and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

“Let’s head to our dorm, I have something about you-know-what to talk about. If Desdemona or Vidalia are there, we’ll go to the Artefact Room.”

Rowan’s eyes widened, but a grin burst out on her face. “Oh, I knew you were hiding something! Let’s go!”

Neither of their roommates turned out to be in their room, so Lili and Rowan huddled on Rowan’s bed, the curtains tightly drawn. Alfred was also there, making himself home on Rowan’s lap and purring up a storm.

Lili sighed. “I’ll forever be upset that my cat likes you better.”

Rowan smiled cheekily. “I’m just good with pets.”

They both giggled, then Lili got serious. “I have a lot to tell you. I think I know where one of the Cursed Vaults might be.”

They spent the next hour going over what happened and what it might mean. Rowan was upset that Lili didn’t tell her about the event, but Lili smoothed that over as well as she could, mentioning how she didn’t know where Rowan was staying. That seemed to mollify Rowan slightly, but there continued to be the smallest pout on her face for another five minutes.

Lili was so glad to have Rowan back. She had practically gone mad over holidays trying to figure out what to do. Even if Rowan rarely had the right idea or plan, she threw out so many ideas so quickly that Lili felt like she was getting somewhere by that alone.

“Should we tell Ben about this?”

Lili bit her lip at that. They hadn’t told Ben about the Cursed Vaults yet. Lili didn’t want to talk to many people about the Vaults, it brought up too many bad memories and feelings. But even now, when they would need help with the Cursed Vaults, she still didn’t really want to bring them up. She liked Ben and he was a good friend, but she wasn’t sure how he would react to hearing about the Vaults. He was always so skittish and nervous, Lili didn’t think Ben and secret, dangerous vaults would go well together.

“No,” she said finally. “Not yet. I think we should check out the corridor by ourselves first.”

Rowan’s eyes went wide. “You mean go there? When? How? Wouldn’t it be locked up already?”

“It probably is,” Lili admitted. “But we still need to check it out.”

Rowan roughly pet Alfred. “I don’t know, Lili. When would we even go?”

“Tonight?”

“_Tonight_?”

Lili crossed her arms in a huff. “I’ve been sitting on this for weeks now. I’ve waited long enough.”

“Yes, but—oh!” Rowan had been petting Alfred too roughly in her nervousness, and the cat had sunk his claws into her leg to voice his displeasure. “Ow!”

“Alfred.” Lili admonished to the cat who was now slinking off of the bed.

Rowan rubbed her leg, pouting. “I guess Alfred didn’t like me disagreeing with you.”

“I think he just didn’t like being pet so roughly,” Lili observed.

Rowan sighed. “Fine. We can do it tonight. But not after curfew! I’m not going to get into trouble!”

-x-x-x-

Curfew started at ten, so Lili and Rowan left at 9:30. Students could potentially still be out, but they wouldn’t tattle on the girls unless they were a Prefect. With how big the castle was, it would be a close shave getting back on time, but Lili knew exactly where she needed to go.

They ran through the halls, Lili dragging Rowan behind her. Rowan still wasn’t sold on the idea, and she voiced her complaints through panted breaths, but she never stopped.

Lili slowed down as they neared the door that led to the corridor holding the Cursed Vault. Lili’s eyes darted about, trying to see if there was anyone else around. The coast seemed clear, but who knew if it really was at Hogwarts. Lili squared her shoulders and boldly strode forward. Rowan tiptoed nervously behind her.

“Are you sure this is going to go alright, Lili?”

Lili nodded as confidently as she could. “Of course, it will be. Let’s try the door.”

Rowan, despite her misgivings, crowded forward as Lili reached for the large door and tugged.

Nothing happened.

Lili tried again.

Still nothing.

Rowan let out what could have been a sigh of disappointment or relief. “It probably has spells on it to keep it locked.”

Lili felt the disappointment build up. Logically, she knew that the spells had likely been put on the door that first day, but it felt more like she couldn’t get through because she waited so long to check the corridor out.

“Did you hear something?” Rowan had her arms wrapped around herself, and she was rocking back and forth on her heels. “Brr, it’s cold here. Did they take off the heating charms to ward students away?”

“No, it was cold when I snuck in last time,” Lili said distractedly. “Did you say there was a noise?”

Rowan pushed back her glasses and nervously looked around. “I thought so, but I don’t know. Did you?”

Lili was always hearing things that weren’t there, so she’d learned to not trust her ears. She told Rowan as much.

“Well, if it’s locked, then we should go. It’s probably coming up on curfew…”

Lili hated to admit it, but Rowan was probably right. She glanced at the door, almost wistfully. She needed to get through that door to find the answers she needed.

“Oh!”

Lili turned at Rowan’s gasp of shock, and then looked down. Staring up at them and swishing her tail was Filch’s cat, Mrs. Norris.

“Oh, not good, not good!”

“Very not good!”

Lili grabbed Rowan’s arm, and Rowan grabbed hers, and the girls made a run for it. Behind them, Mrs. Norris let out a hiss, and ran in a different direction.

“Oh, she’s going to get Filch!”

“No talking, just running!”

They made it back to the common room slightly after curfew, but without getting caught by Filch. The two hurried back to their dorm, got dressed for bed, then drew the curtains around Rowan’s bed so they could whisper without their roommates listening in.

“I don’t think Filch could even punish us, it hadn’t hit curfew yet.” Lili was saying as she tugged at one of Rowan’s blankets.

“Yes, well, do you want to try him? You just got out of detention with him” Rowan pushed her glasses back on her nose. “I doubt he needed an excuse to get you to clean for him.”

Lili shrugged, even though Rowan was probably right. She didn’t want to get into trouble again so soon, but she also wanted to get behind that door. “How do you think we could get through the door? What spells could be on it?” If anyone would know, it’d be her friend.

Rowan bit her lip. “Oh, I really shouldn’t be saying this, but we’ll be learning the Unlocking Charm in Charms class soon.”

Lili perked up. “Do you think that will be enough to get through?”

“Maybe the first door.” Rowan wrapped her arms around herself again. “If there’s another door like you said, there may be more locking spells on that one.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try!” Lili grinned at her friend who did not grin back. She dimmed her smile. “Well, we should be getting to bed, anyways. Class starting back up tomorrow and all that. Night, Rowan!”

Lili slipped off Rowan’s bed and fought her way through the closed coverings. If she wanted to get through that locked door and into the Cursed Vault, she needed to plan.

-x-x-x-

Classes started back up, and Lili tried to keep an eye out for anything in class that could help out with the Cursed Vaults.

History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts were both useless classes where they did nothing but read, so Lili crossed those off her list. Astronomy and Herbology had some fascinating subjects, but she didn’t think they’d be much help with this. Flying had been put on hold until the snow on the ground got more manageable, leaving Lili to focus on her other three classes.

Charms was the easiest. The spells always seemed to come naturally to her. She wasn’t like Ben, able to do the charms immediately with next to no practice or reading beforehand, but she was usually one of the first in the class to get the charm to work.

Transfiguration was a bit harder. She had to actually study for the spells to work, and while she was never the last to get a spell to work, she was never the first. Even though Rowan’s strict study sessions bored her to tears sometimes, Lili had to admit that they did wonders in helping with school and staying on track with homework. Especially for Transfiguration, as Professor McGonagall always handed out a lot.

Potions was one of Lili’s hardest classes. Even if Professor Snape had liked her, Lili probably wouldn’t have been much good at it anyways. She just didn’t seem to have the necessary patience to wait for the potions to brew and always added things to early or too late. It wasn’t nearly as bad a subject for her as Herbology or Flying, but she still didn’t like the subject, no matter how useful it was.

Rowan, of course, ended up being right, and near the end of January, Professor Flitwick started teaching them Alohomora, the Unlocking Charm. He made sure to warn them thoroughly about using this charm on things they shouldn’t, and Rowan gave her pointed looks throughout his lecture which Lili ignored.

Lili grabbed Rowan’s arm as they exited that Charms class and held her back for a few seconds so they would be behind all the Slytherins headed off to Potions.

“I have a plan for getting into the corridor, and I made sure it’s unlikely to get us in trouble.” Lili whispered as they made their way to the dungeons.

“Really?” Rowan didn’t look impressed.

“Really!” Lili pouted. She was quite proud of her plan. “We’ll go on Thursday, after Astronomy. We’d be expected to be walking around the castle if we have our Astronomy stuff on us. If we get caught, we’ll say that I had to go to the bathroom immediately after Astronomy, and you went with me, and then the staircases changed, and we got all turned about and lost. It’s totally plausible!”

Rowan blinked. “That…actually is really plausible.” She broke into a grin. “I feel much better about this plan than the previous one.”

They hurried after the Slytherin group, not wanting to be the last to Potions and get on Professor Snape’s bad side for that day.

The next few days passed quickly, as Lili and Rowan waited for their late night Astronomy lesson. Lili focused on class the best she could, but her mind was elsewhere. The Cursed Vaults were always in her thoughts as she tried to figure out what they were, what was in them, how many there were. She tried to look in books, but it was hard locating anything about the Vaults. Lili wouldn’t be surprised if any book mentioning the Vaults had been pulled from the library so students wouldn’t go chasing after them. She occasionally thought about looking in the Restricted Section, but dismissed that thought. Even through a closed gate, the Restriction Section seemed creepy and she didn’t want to go in there yet, even for information on a Cursed Vault.

Lili could barely sit still and look through the telescope in Astronomy. Professor Sinistra kept lightly chastising her, and Lili apologized every time, but she was too wound up. She couldn’t tell if it was nerves or excitement, but she was ready.

Once class finished, she and Rowan surreptitiously snuck away from the rest of their class. Lili made sure to travel down a route she knew had a bathroom, so if they were caught before getting to the door their cover story was still worked.

Luckily, they snuck through the corridors and made it to the locked door undisturbed. Rowan was clutching at Lili’s arm looking nervous, but Lili was focused on the door ahead of her.

“Alohomora,” she whispered, and both her and Rowan gave small gasps when there was a click from the door.

Lili had put her hand on the handle and opened the door the tiniest amount when there was a yowl and Rowan shrieked. She slammed the door shut and jumped back to the middle of the hallway, dragging Rowan with her.

At the end of the corridor was Mrs. Norris, hissing now that she was done yowling.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no…” Rowan was staring wide eyed at the cat, panicking.

“What are you two doing here?” A commanding voice behind them said, and Lili whirled around to see Professor McGonagall marching towards them. Lili’s heart sank.

“I said, what are you two doing out after curfew. Tell me now.”

Lili and Rowan shrunk under Professor McGonagall’s piercing gaze. Lili valiantly tried to stutter out the cover story she had thought up.

“I—we got lost. We were, uhm, coming back from Astronomy,” she put her hand on her backpack here, a small telescope sticking out of it, “and I had to go to the bathroom really bad, and then the staircases changed, and we got lost.” Lili finished lamely, Rowan still clutching her arm wide eyed.

Professor McGonagall stared at them a bit longer, before softening the slightest. “Alright. I won’t give detention for going to the bathroom.” Her stare turned harsher once more. “But please, next time wait until you get back to your dorm to go. The curfew is in place for a reason. Now, off to Slytherin dorm you two.”

Lili nodded repeatedly. “Yes, professor McGonagall, thank you Professor McGonagall.” For once, she was the one dragging Rowan away.

That seemed to snap her friend out of her stupor, and they hurried down to their common room.

“I can’t believe Mrs. Norris was still there! Do you think they have her as a watchman, to make sure students don’t go through the door? Oh, I’m just glad it wasn’t Professor Snape who caught us, he would’ve given us detention no matter our excuse.”

“I think you’re right,” Lili interrupted Rowan’s babbling.

“What?”

“I think they do have Mrs. Norris guarding the door.” Lili frowned. This was a new problem she’d have to solve for, and her Astronomy excuse wouldn’t work a second time. “How are we gonna get past her?”

“We’ll think of something I’m sure. I don’t think the door is going anywhere.”

“Yeah.” Lili sighed. “I’m sad my Astronomy excuse got wasted on nothing though. That worked perfectly.”

Rowan giggled. “We still have five months left in this school year. I’m sure you can come up with another brilliant excuse for being out late in that time.”

Five months. Lili nodded, partly to acknowledge Rowan’s words, but mainly to herself. She would be able to get through that door within the next five months. She’d figure something out.


	11. Getting Through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done!!

Lili did not figure things out. At least, not quickly. It was April by the time she figured out how to get past Mrs. Norris.

She hadn’t spent the other two months doing nothing. At least once a week she had gone down to the corridor at various times of day, and each time she had been hissed at by Mrs. Norris. No professor had caught her since Professor McGonagall, but Lili was beginning to hate the stupid cat that never seemed to leave the corridor.

Rowan continued to be nervous about the door and the Vaults. She never faltered in helping Lili research spells and the Vaults, but after their run in with Professor McGonagall, she left the snooping and sneaking to Lili. This upset Lili slightly, but she knew how nervous and scared Rowan had been both times they had gone together. She, reluctantly, respected her friends wishes.

Inspiration came during a study session dedication to Potions class. Lili had been idly turning pages through _Magical Drafts and Potions_, seeing what potions they had done so far, and which ones they would be getting to.

Lili was halfway through when she got to the page for brewing a Sleeping Draught and stilled. Something instantly clicked in her brain, and a plan began to form. She looked up at Rowan, who was rapidly writing notes, and Ben, who seemed as bored as Lili.

Was it time to bring Ben into their planning sessions? It had never really occurred to her, but it might be the smallest bit rude for Ben’s only friends to be keeping something so big from him. She hesitated, then mentally nodded. She’d put the idea out there, and if Rowan was okay with Ben knowing, she’d continue.

“Rowan.” Her friend looked up. “I think I figured out how to get past Mrs. Norris.”

Rowan’s eyes widened and Ben looked quizzically between them.

“Why do you need to get past Mrs. Norris?”

Lili and Rowan had a brief, silent conversation.

_Do you want to tell him? _Rowan’s eyes seemed to ask_._

_Do you? _Lili tilted her head.

Rowan’s eyes darted to the side_. It has been kind of mean, keeping this from him for so long…_

Lili nodded._ Then, let’s finally clue him in._

“She’s guarding a door to a Cursed Vault.” Lili finally answered.

“A door to a what?”

The two girls spent the next twenty minutes explaining to Ben about the Cursed Vaults, and how Jacob had been searching for them. He took it in wide eyed.

“So that’s what you two have been whispering about all this time?”

Lili winced slightly. Ben didn’t sound accusatory that they had purposefully left him out, and somehow that was worse.

“Yeah. We, uh, we thought that it might scare you.” That wasn’t necessarily true, but Lili wasn’t sure how to put her abstract thoughts about Ben into words. The feelings were too complicated for her to understand.

Ben fiddled with some papers in front of him. “It does sound pretty scary. I mean, Cursed Vaults? Two awful things right in the name….”

“But Lili needs to find her brother, so we’re looking into them,” Rowan added in. “It’s just that, Filch found the door to the Vaults, or what we think is the door, and Mrs. Norris has been guarding it ever since.”

“And I think I found a way to get past her!” Lili excitedly added in, getting a sharp _sh_ from Madam Pince for being too loud. She brought her voice down to a whisper. “We brew a Sleeping Draught and give it to her!”

Ben looked worried. “Is that ethical?”

“It should be fine….”

“Who’s going to brew the potion?” Rowan adjusted her glasses. “None of us are exactly master potioneers. And while a Sleeping Draught isn’t too hard, but I don’t think we’d be able to get the supplies without Professor Snape noticing.”

That was not something Lili had thought of. She frowned. “It’s the beginning of a plan. It’s in progress.”

“Oh, I think it has potential, I don’t think a Sleeping Draught would harm an animal if in a small enough dose, but I’m just thinking things through.” Rowan smiled sheepishly, and Lili smiled back.

“It’s fine, Rowan. I wouldn’t have thought of that myself, and then I’d likely get in trouble with Professor Snape.”

“What about Penny Haywood?”

Lili and Rowan turned to look at Ben in surprise. “What?” They chorused.

“Penny Haywood.” Ben squirmed slightly. “She offered to help you with anything you need, Lili, back when you dueled Merula. And she’s the best in our year in Potions. Probably better than most second years too. Maybe even third years.”

Lili went slightly bug eyed, then reigned her expression back in. Ben had a point. Lili had never heard Professor Snape say something bad about Penny’s potions, even though he insulted everyone else in Hufflepuff, and when Penny talked to the professor he was almost polite back. And she had offered to help Lili with anything. Lili’s stomach flip flopped at the thought of bringing Penny into her plans.

Rowan was nodding slowly. “That could work. I wouldn’t put it past Penny owning the ingredients needed, or surviving asking Professor Snape for the ingredients.”

“We,” that came out higher pitched than intended. Lili cleared her throat. “We can ask her tomorrow during Herbology then. And if she says yes, we’ll go from there.”

-x-x-x-

Lili was nervous throughout Herbology and she wasn’t sure why. She talked to Penny all the time, how was this different?

Well, they would have to get Tonks away for a while, so it would just be Lili, Rowan, and Penny her brain argued. And Lili was bringing in an acquaintance into her search for her brother and the Vaults. Rowan had been there from the start, and Lili had spent months of downtime with Ben. But Penny was the most popular girl in their year who was friends with everyone. Lili had never had good luck with talking to popular girls, even ones as nice as Penny.

Rowan was the one to get Tonks away for a minute. “Hey, Tonks, I think we need more fertilizer. Would you mind getting some?”

“Sure!” Tonks cheerfully got up, tripped over a bag, and went off to the station holding fertilizer.

Rowan gave Lili a pointed look, and Lili took a deep breath.

“Hey, Penny? Could I ask something of you?”

“Sure,” Penny said immediately, and something in Lili sighed in relief.

“We,” she looked at Rowan, “need a potion brewed. One that isn’t for class.”

Penny looked interested. “What potion?”

“The Sleeping Draught.”

“Easy enough.” Penny nodded. “When do you need it by?”

Lili felt a rush of relief. Penny had agreed to brew the potion! “Whenever you can do it,” she said gratefully.

Penny nodded again. “I have time this weekend, and I can ask Professor Snape for Flobberworm Mucus tomorrow morning. That’s the only ingredient I don’t own, I believe.” A curious look came over her face. “Why do you need a Sleeping Draught, if I can ask?”

Lili hesitated, and noticed Tonks coming over, whistling and holding fertilizer. “I can tell you when we go to make the potion.”

Penny seemed to notice Lili’s line of sight, and nodded. A small smile came to her face. “Underground potion making. This is very exciting!”

-x-x-x-

Penny kept her word. In Potions the next morning, Lili noticed her stay behind to talk to Professor Snape. Lili could barely pay attention during Flying class, her thoughts all on whether Penny had managed to get the ingredient she needed.

She didn’t see Penny during lunch, or during the afternoon, and Lili’s nerves frayed more and more as every hour went by.

Lili and Rowan were walking to dinner when a voice called out her name.

“Lili! Lili, I finally found you.”

She turned around to see Penny, smiling widely. “I got the Flobberworm Mucus! I have a meeting for the students’ union tomorrow morning, but we can meet up after lunch to brew the potion. There’s a good room for it at the end of the corridor the Potions classroom is in. It used to host the Potions club, but then an accident happened, and it’s been abandoned ever since. Perfect for secret potion brewing.”

Lili’s smile grew to match Penny’s and she and Rowan exchanged excited glances. “Penny, that’s awesome! We can meet there at two or so?”

Penny nodded. “Seems fine. I’ll probably start working on it before then, it takes an hour and a half or so to brew, but two sounds good. See you then!”

With a wave, Penny marched away to a gaggle of Hufflepuff girls who immediately drew her into their conversation.

The rest of the night, and the next morning went by in a haze. Lili and Rowan made plans well into the night, and Lili slept fitfully, her nerves sinking into her subconscious.

She picked at her food at breakfast and lunch, and following Rowan to her Gobstones club meeting barely captured her attention.

Being so unfocused turned out to be a mistake. Lili grimaced as she missed being out of the line of fire of stinky goo for a third time.

“Urgh,” she said standing up. “I’m going back to the dorm to shower. I’ll meet you when you come back, Rowan.”

Rowan nodded absently, too absorbed in her game.

Lili relaxed for the first time that day in the shower. She had to deal with Desdemona and Vidalia laughing at her being covered with Gobstone goop when she walked in, but she didn’t care about them. She was so close to finally getting through that door. It was almost time to take the first step to figuring out that vision and potentially finding her brother.

She left the shower feeling more confident. Her other roommates had left, and they had been replaced by the much better Rowan.

Rowan grinned, but it was tinged with nervousness. “Are you ready to go meet with Penny?”

“Born ready.” Rowan snickered at that. “How was Gobstones after I left?”

Rowan babbled on as they left the common room again. They made their way to the Potions classroom, then went down the corridor to the empty classroom Penny had mentioned.

Penny was already inside, peering into a bubbling cauldron. She didn’t look up as Lili and Rowan snuck in, focused on the potion. When she eventually looked up, there was a smile on her face.

“Hi!”

“Hi, Penny,” Lili and Rowan said at the same time.

Penny giggled. “That’s cute. Always great to see friends being in synch. The potion’s almost done.”

Lili’s eyebrows went up. “Really?”

She nodded. “I started it about an hour ago. There’s another twenty minutes on it brewing, then I add in the final ingredients.” She leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands. “So, why am I brewing this potion.”

Almost reluctantly, Lili found herself explaining the Cursed Vaults to someone for the second time that week. Penny listened intently, not interrupting her and Rowan’s clumsy explanation.

“—and we know where the door to the Vault is, but Mrs. Norris guards it 24/7. We were thinking a Sleeping Draught would put her to sleep long enough to let us slip in.” Lili finished.

“That is—” A noise interrupted her. “Let me finish this!”

Lili and Rowan watched in awe as Penny efficiently stirred and added in more ingredients to the potion. She really was beyond talented with potions. Lili looked at her battered potions book, and the shade of the Sleeping Draught was the exact same shade of purple as the image in the book.

“And there.” Penny waved her wand over the cauldron, then took it off the fire. She took out a small vial and ladled some Sleeping Draught into it. “One vial of Sleeping Draught, ready to go!”

Lili took the vial from Penny’s hands and beamed at her. “Penny, you’re the best!”

“I am.” Penny looked smug for a second. “Anyways, I was going to say that all this Cursed Vaults stuff sounds very exciting!”

“Mainly, it’s been a lot of research.” Rowan said. “Or getting in trouble with professors.”

“Like I said, exciting.” Penny’s smile dimmed, and if it had been anyone but Penny Haywood Lili would’ve said she looked nervous. “Are you going to go give Mrs. Norris the draught right now?”

“That was the plan,” Lili said, finally putting the vial in her pocket. She was practically vibrating with excitement; she couldn’t wait to see what was inside the Vault.

Penny fiddled with the loose hair at the bottom of one of her braids. “I was wondering….” She cleared her throat. “Hogwarts is meant for, like, adventures. And I’ve had a lot of fun this year, but nothing I could describe as an adventure, and I was wondering.” She looked embarrassed. Her words came out in a rush. “Could I come with you guys to the Vault?”

Lili was flabbergasted. She wouldn’t have expected kind, popular Penny to be a wannabe adventurer.

She seemed to take Lili and Rowan’s shocked silence as a no. She rushed out, “it’s not problem if you don’t want me to come! I realize this is something between you two, and you might want to do it alone and—”

“Penny!” Lili raised her voice slightly to interrupt the rambling blonde. Penny blushed. “Uh, it’s fine to ask. Would you mind Penny coming with us, Rowan?”

Rowan blinked owlishly. “The more the merrier?” It was probably meant as a statement, but it came out as a question.

Penny immediately brightened. “That’s awesome! I wasn’t sure whether you would say yes or no, but I still brought a bunch of potions I have that could be useful!” she snatched up a yellow satchel that had childish drawings on it. “Strengthening Solution, Pepperup Potion, Wiggenweld Potion….”

“You came prepared.” Rowan noted, her surprise ebbing away.

Penny’s blush came back. “I was maybe a bit excited at the thought of going on some grand adventure.”

Lili smiled at her. “Well, it’s time to go on one then.”

-x-x-x-

On a Saturday afternoon in late April, most students at Hogwarts were anywhere but their dorm. Luckily for the three girls sneaking through the castle, a brief heatwave was hitting Scotland and the warm air was like catnip for the students after being inside all winter. They saw a few students milling about, but the crowds thinned out as they approached the abandoned wing on the second floor.

Penny shivered. “Is it just me, or is it really cold?”

“It’s the Vault,” Lili told her. “It has something to do with ice.”

Lili threw her arm out as they reached the main corridor. “Alright. Mrs. Norris is usually on the other side of this hallway. Who wants to go to the middle and pour some of the Sleeping Draught out?”

The three girls stared at each other.

“I’ll do it.” Penny whispered. “To prove I’m useful.”

“You’ve proved that with the potion, Penny.” Rowan said kindly.

“Still. I’ll have the vial?” Penny held out her hand and Lili gave it over. “Let’s do this.”

Lili and Rowan shuffled behind the wall and watched silently as Penny walked into the corridor. About halfway through, she stooped and poured some of the Sleeping Draught on the ground, before turning and running back to them.

The noise seemed to alert Mrs. Norris, who ran full throttle into the corridor. Seeing no one, she skidded to a stop. Lili held back a giggle. Mrs. Norris seemed almost confused.

The cat sniffed the air and padded towards the spill. Lili held her breath. This would be it….

Mrs. Norris touched a paw to the puddle and jumped back when she seemed to realize it was liquid. She began to lick her paw. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Mrs. Norris began to walk away. Lili let out her breath, disappointed.

Then Mrs. Norris flopped over.

Lili stared. “It worked.”

Rowan squealed. “It worked!”

Penny darted out, and began walking to Mrs. Norris’s small form. She bent down and touched the cat. She looked up, beaming. “It worked!”

Determination flowed through Lili. “Right. Come on, Rowan.” She moved out and Rowan followed behind her.

“I’m just going to move Mrs. Norris over here, and wipe up this potion,” Lili heard Penny mumble. She didn’t really care; her focus was entirely on that locked door.

“Alohomora.”

The lock clicked open again, and Lili grinned.

“Flipendo.” A voice behind her said, and Lili yelped as Rowan knocked her into the ground.

“Merula!” She heard Penny say, and _of course_ it was Merula. Who else could’ve ruined this moment for Lili?

“What are you doing, Merula?” Lili said hotly, trying to untangle herself from Rowan on the ground.

Merula gave her characteristic sneer. “No one is going into a Cursed Vault before me. I couldn’t figure out how to get past the ugly cat without killing it, and figured I might as well have you do the dirty work. I have to say Brooks, I thought you would’ve figured out a way sooner.”

Lili growled. “At least I figured something out, instead of being an idiot who can only cheat.”

Penny had come to her and Rowan and was helping them up, glaring daggers at Merula.

Heat rose in Merula’s cheeks. “It’s not cheating, it’s working smart. Now, excuse me, I’m going through.”

Before Lili could get her wand out, Merula had shut the door behind her.

“I can’t believe her.” Lili hissed out. “Who does she think she is?”

“Uh, the greatest witch at Hogwarts, I believe. She mentions it quite a bit.” Rowan said, cleaning her glasses on her jumper.

Lili snorted. “Greatest, sure. She couldn’t figure out how to get past a cat. What a great witch.”

“Is the door still open?” Penny asked, her mouth drawn tight.

Lili walked back over to the door, and tugged on the handle. “It is.” She turned to face her two friends. “Are you guys ready to face whatever is in the Vault and Merula?”

Penny gave a small smile. “I think facing Merula is incentive to go in.”

Rowan put her glasses back on. “I don’t, but I’ll go in anyways.”

All three let out tired giggles. Lili turned back to the door. “Okay. In we go, then.”

She finally opened the door.


	12. Inside the Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!! The last chapter guys!!! Man, this is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and one of the few chapter fics I’ve ever completed, and I’m very very happy <3 Thank you to everyone who’s read this story~! 
> 
> The first chapter to the sequel should be posted in a few days!

Lili had seen the corridor before, but she gasped when she walked into it now.

The entire area was covered in glittering ice. You would need ice skates to get across the floor, icicles hung from the ceiling, and frost covered all the stone walls. Lili felt the cold more acutely than before, and her breath was now visible.

“W-we should’ve worn more l-layers.” She stuttered out, and was surprised when Rowan let out a loud laugh. Lili hadn’t thought her joke was that funny.

Rowan was pointing to their right, and Lili realized that Rowan hadn’t been laughing at her joke but at Merula.

Merula hadn’t gotten very far in the room by herself. She was several meters away from them, covered to her knees in ice. She was banging on the ice with her fists, but it didn’t seem to crack. In fact, it seemed to be growing, crawling up her legs. Lili inhaled sharply, remembering her vision of ice creeping over Hogwarts.

“This is too good!” Rowan laughed.

“D-d-d-don’t just s-st-stand there!” Merula hissed out through her shivering. “G-get this ice o-off m-me!”

Lili snickered. “Should I really? Maybe if I don’t, I can go through without getting caught in ice like you, oh _Greatest Witch at Hogwarts_.”

If looks could kill, Merula would be casting the Killing Curse. “It’s also sp-spreading o-over the d-door, you id-idiot!”

Lili looked over her shoulder, and there was ice creeping over the door. It seemed like being opened twice had broken the thin layer that had originally formed, and now a second layer was moving in its place, and quickly. As Lili stared in horror, ice inched forward and began to cover the door handle.

“Oh, not good, not good.” Rowan mumbled, amusement from earlier gone. Then Rowan jumped up and yelped. Lili looked down. Rowan’s foot was caught in ice. “Lili?” Rowan’s voice was high pitched.

“I see it!” Lili was beginning to panic. She hadn’t expected her trip to the corridor to go south so quickly.

A shriek came from Penny, and Lili looked over to see Penny’s feet also encased in ice. Lili danced back, and hopped onto one of the few non icy patches of floor.

Lili was the only one free. She had to do something. She pointed her wand at Rowan’s feet and said the first spell to come to her mind. “Flipendo!”

A smile briefly came to her face when the ice shattered, but it fell quickly. Rowan had managed to get her foot unstuck, but ice instantly grew over the other foot.

“Flipendo!” That was Penny, who quickly began hopping from one foot to another to avoid getting stuck in ice again.

“F-f-f-fl—” Merula was desperately trying to cast the Knockback Jinx on the ice closing in on her waist, but the cold was making her shiver badly—the stutter was affecting her ability to cast spells. “S-s-s-s-save m-me, d-d-damnit!”

Lili didn’t want to, but she also didn’t want someone’s death on her consciousness. She heard Penny cast the Knockback Jinx on Rowan. Lili turned to Merula.

“Remember how you locked me and Rowan in a room with Devil’s Snare?” A gasp sounded from Penny behind her. Merula grit her teeth. “I could do the same thing to you and leave you here to fend for yourself against something you can’t fight. But I won’t.” She leveled a stare at Merula. “Because I’m better than you. And doing this will make you remember that. Flipendo.”

Merula looked like she would rather die than be set free by Lili now, which just made Lili smirk and cast Flipendo again. The ice broke to Merula’s knees, then to her ankles. With a last Flipendo, Merula was free. She took a step and slipped on the ice, falling onto her bum.

Lili couldn’t help herself; she laughed. Merula got up with murder in her eyes. Lili didn’t care. She knew Merula would remember this, and how Lili had saved her. This would eat at Merula’s thoughts for months and Lili knew she had gotten a temporary win in their war against each other.

While Lili had been getting Merula free, Penny and Rowan had been casting Knockback Jinxes at the ice encasing the door. The two of them casting in unison had blown off a chunk of the ice, but it was growing back faster than they could destroy it. Lili added her own wand to theirs.

Three Flipendo’s was even more powerful, but the ice wasn’t stopping.

Lili glanced over her shoulder. “Help us Merula, or you’ll be stuck here.”

Merula was staring at the end of the corridor. “I c-c-came here f-for the C-c-c-cursed V-vault.”

“Oh, come on Merula!” Rowan yelled. “Getting out of here and living is better than finding some stupid Vault and dying in it.”

“Get over yourself,” Penny added in with a glare.

Merula glared back, but she cast the Knockback Jinx alongside the other three.

That seemed to do the trick. As Merula cast Flipendo, the ice on the door and the wall shattered, sending shards everywhere. Lili instinctively ducked and put her arm in front of her face, but she still felt dozens of tiny pinpricks on her face.

“Yes!” Rowan cried and leapt forward. She yanked on the door handle several times, trying to get the frozen door to open before the ice came back.

Lili took a step back. Where the ice had been, there was now writing on the wall in an eerie blue that almost shone.

“Rowan! Look up!”

Rowan looked over at her, then up, then back over, her eyes wide. “Runes!”

Lili bit her lip, a sliver of despair settling in her. “I don’t have anything to write on.”

Rowan was staring at the runes on the wall, and Penny took over trying to get the door to open. Rowan exhaled a white cloud. “I think I have it memorized.”

“Seriously?”

Rowan nodded, still staring. “It’s pattern recognition. I’m good at that.”

“Aha!” There was a cracking noise, and the door was thrust open. “I knew that Strengthening Solution would come in handy…”

Penny fled the room with Rowan right behind her. Merula followed, and Lili looked behind her, to the ice-covered wall at the end of the corridor. Somehow, this place led to a Cursed Vault. Somewhere, there was an entrance. Or a hint to where the true entrance was.

_I’ll be back_, she promised herself. _I’ll find my answers. I just need to be better prepared. I’ll figure out the visions, and I’ll find you, Jacob. I will, if it’s the last thing I do._

She followed the other girls out and shut the door firmly behind her.

It was significantly warmer in the corridor not covered in ice. Lili suddenly realized how cold she was, and discovered she was shivering.

“Take this, Merula.” Penny was saying. Merula gave her a distrustful look. “It’s Pepperup Potion. I’m assuming you won’t go to Madam Pomfrey and this will make sure you don’t get frostbite or something. Drink it.”

Merula hesitated, but common sense seemed to win out for the first time in her life. She took the vial from Penny and drank it. Immediately, smoke began to pour out her ears. Merula screwed up her face in distaste, but her skin had lost its blueish tinge and regained a flush.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to find a Vault, Brooks.” Merula was no longer stuttering, but it was hard to take her seriously with smoke coming out of her ears. “I’ll be finding the Vaults on my own this time.” She left, two trails of smoke floating behind her.

Penny was holding up another potion vial. “I thought Merula needed the Pepperup Potion more, so I gave her the whole thing. We can use this Wiggenweld Potion to clear up these cuts, and hopefully stop any potential harm from the ice.”

She took a sip from the vial then handed it to Rowan, who did the same and handed it to Lili.

Lili made a face as she swallowed the potion, but kept it down. She could feel her cuts begin to clear up, and her fingers and toes regain some feeling. “Thanks, Penny.”

Penny gave a trembling smile. “That certainly was an adventure. Was that a Cursed Vault?”

Lili slowly shook her head, then looked around. “We should probably leave this corridor before someone comes.”

“Right. Let me do this real quick.” She went over to Mrs. Norris, who Lili had frankly forgotten about in the past ten minutes, and dropped the last bits of Wiggenweld Potion on the cats lolling tongue. “She should wake up in a few seconds, so let’s leave now.”

Penny didn’t have to say that twice. The three girls hurried away, down a set of stairs and over to the Clocktower Courtyard. Lili sighed deeply, and spent a second relishing being in the sunshine. The Wiggenweld Potion had helped with the worst of the shivering, but the sun worked wonders.

“Anyways, I don’t think that was a Cursed Vault. More like a…opening chamber to the Vault.” She said, replying to Penny’s earlier question.

“Well, the ice was definitely cursed.” Rowan sat on the edge of the fountain, her face looking up at the sky. “Do you think it’s escaping the Vault or guarding it?”

“Neither option is exactly good,” Penny said dryly.

“No,” Lili agreed. “We’ll have to figure out a better way to get rid of the ice.”

Her two friends stared at her.

“You’re going back into there?” Rowan asked, voice high pitched.

“Of course.” Lili was confused. Did they think she would just stop? “That corridor leads to the answers for all my questions. I need to get through.”

Rowan sighed. “No use talking you out of it?”

“No.”

She sighed again. “Well, I’ll help of course. I’ll write down those runes when we get back to our dorm.”

“And I’ll help too!” Penny cut in. “That was terrifying, but it was also exactly how I imagined Hogwarts to be!” She looked away, blushing. “Of course, that’s if you’ll let me tag along again.”

Lili giggled. “Of course, Penny. I think you did the most out of all of us there. We would’ve been stuck without your potions.”

Penny brightened, and looked a bit smug too.

They chatted for a few more minutes, but soon broke away. Their clothing was wet from where frost had melted, and Rowan wanted to get down the runes she had memorized before she potentially misremembered.

It was quiet as Lili and Rowan walked down to the dungeons.

“I’m glad we’re both okay,” Rowan said quietly.

She looked over at her friend. Rowan looked almost sad.

Lili grabbed her hand in reassurance.

“I’m glad we’re all okay too. That was much scarier than I had thought it would be.”

Rowan simply nodded.

-x-x-x-

Within a few weeks, Lili began hearing whispers about cursed ice spreading throughout the castle. She didn’t hear her name attached to the appearance of the cursed ice, but she found herself being stared at, particularly by the seventh years who would’ve known Jacob.

Lili spent her last two months of school studying with Rowan and Ben, besides one afternoon which was spent grumbling about how they had been taught the Fire-Making Spell a few weeks too late. Penny sometimes joined them, but she had so many friends and study groups that she couldn’t be with one small group all the time.

Rowan had written down her memorized runes, but runes were a subject she had not studied much, to Lili and Ben’s shock.

“Plus,” Rowan had mumbled, blushing. Either she was embarrassed to be caught not knowing something or pleased her friends thought so highly of her. “There are so many different runic alphabets. It would take a while to figure out which is the proper language to use. “

She had given Lili an apologetic look at that, but Lili had just shrugged. She knew she would be at Hogwarts next year, and she could wait that long to get into the Cursed Vault. She was content for now knowing that Rowan had checked out as many books on runes and ciphers as she could and was on the case.

The belief that she would be continuing her Hogwarts education was briefly shaken halfway through June, and her contentedness was thrown away in seconds.

Lili, Rowan, and Ben had been studying at their usual table in the library when Felix walked up.

Felix had been avoiding Lili ever since her fight with Merula back in December. He had taught her those spells so she could fight Merula in private and then Lili had gone and gotten in trouble for fighting Merula in public. She could tell he was disappointed in her, and that stung worse than Lili would care to admit.

“Brooks,” came his deep voice, shaking her out of the early history of Transfiguration. She looked up to see her Prefect frowning down at her.

Felix got right to the point. “I don’t know what your involvement was in connection to the rumors of cursed ice, but I don’t like it. Your reputation reflects on Slytherin’s reputation. Don’t follow in your brother’s footsteps.” He said the last part forcefully, glaring right down into her soul. Lili tried not to gulp.

His stare softened the slightest bit. “Either way, I have a note from Professor Dumbledore for you. Don’t upset him.” Felix dropped the note on her table, turned heel, and left.

Lili stared guiltily down at the note. She had been surprised to avoid official reprimanding so far, but even then, she had expected a lecture from Professor Talcifer, not a visit to the Headmaster’s office.

_Ms. Brooks_

_Please head to the third floor and the Headmaster’s Tower at five o’clock today. You will tell the gargoyle at the base of the tower chocolate frogs._

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

It was already four thirty. Felix had taken his time finding her.

Lili told her friends goodbye and slowly packed her school things. She wouldn’t have time to put them away in her dorm, so she took them with her.

She had trouble finding the tower she was meant to go to, but she managed to find it before five. Lili stood in front of a frankly ugly gargoyle.

“Er—chocolate frogs?”

She gasped as the gargoyle moved and a large, circular staircase came into view. Lili hesitantly stepped through, her eyes darting everywhere.

The Headmaster’s office was almost as visually stimulating as the Great Hall. Looking around, Lili felt like she was reading one of her old muggle picture books where you had to find something very small in a cluttered picture. There were simply too many strange and unique things to focus on.

She zeroed in on one thing with a gasp. “Is that a phoenix?” She blurted out.

Professor Dumbledore chuckled. “Indeed it is, Lili. His name is Fawkes. Do you have an interest in magical creatures?”

Lili tore her eyes away from the phoenix, _a phoenix_, to stare at the Headmaster. “Er, I wouldn’t say I have a disinterest. I’ve never seen a real phoenix before.”

He chuckled again. “Most people haven’t. Phoenixes are shy creatures. Please sit, Lili.”

He gestured to a chair in front of his desk, and Lili gingerly sat down. She tried to remind herself she didn’t like the Headmaster for his role in Jacob running away and that he didn’t deserve to call her by her nickname, but she was too busy staring at his phoenix to process those thoughts.

“How much do you know about phoenixes?”

She blinked and looked back to Professor Dumbledore. “Mainly what’s in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_.”

Professor Dumbledore nodded. “Phoenixes are very intelligent creatures, you know. Even if they cannot speak, I find it quite useful to talk about my problems out loud to Fawkes to help decide what to do.”

Lili didn’t know how to reply. Did that deserve a _that sounds nice_? She decided to avoid the philosophical conversation and get to what she wanted to hear.

“Er, Felix mentioned that you wanted to see me about what happened this year with the cursed ice? Or he implied that, at least.”

Professor Dumbledore smiled in a way that was probably meant to be kind. “Your brother always got to the point too.”

That flared Lili’s guard back up. The man who expelled her brother wasn’t allowed to casually mention him when he was the one who had ruined Jacob’s life, and ruined her family, too. She clenched her fists and glared, all those thoughts about distrusting Dumbledore back in her head.

He raised a single eyebrow. “I get the feeling you want to ask me something, Lili. Feel free to speak your mind here.”

Anger whipped through her before she could think rationally. “Why did you expel my brother? He—” She shut her mouth. He didn’t deserve to hear anything she had to say about Jacob. Lili realized she was standing and sat back down.

Professor Dumbledore sighed and looked down at his hands. “Your brother was brilliant, but as it is with most brilliant young men, he got carried away in his grand ideas. I did not want to expel him, but I was left no other choice. Too many things had happened. It is a long and complicated story, one even I don’t fully know, but something tells me that you, perhaps, will learn more in your upcoming years at Hogwarts.”

That startled Lili out of her anger. “I’m not being expelled?”

The tension in the room seemed to lessen. Professor Dumbledore almost smiled. “You have made a great many mistakes this year, Lili. But you have also shown great bravery, compassion, and resourcefulness. You show as much promise as your brother did in his first year.”

Lili was shocked at the compliment. She had not expected the conversation to turn out this way.

“All in all, I believe you’ve won Slytherin fifty points.” His eyes twinkled. “That more than makes up for your dueling mistake in December.”

All Lili could do was stare at him, open mouthed.

She tried to keep up with the conversation, turn it in her favor even more. “That—my brother.” She had no idea what she was trying to say and switched tactics. “The Cursed Vaults, and the cursed ice. It—I had a vision, and—” She stopped that, already regretting letting Professor Dumbledore know about the vision. “What about the cursed ice? People have said it’s spread.”

Professor Dumbledore was looking at her with interest. Lili felt like a beetle under a spyglass. “A vision?”

“No—well, yes. I thought maybe the Cursed Vaults gave it, because it was about the cursed ice.”

The Headmaster’s face was guarded. “Perhaps. Not much is known about the Cursed Vaults, even by me. I have been looking into finding someone more knowledgeable to help with the problem.” He fixed her with a piercing stare. “Which means you will leave the problem of the Vaults and the cursed ice to us professors.”

Lili nodded meekly, though she wasn’t going to do that at all.

Professor Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. “With that said, enjoy your summer holidays, Lili. I will be glad to see you back at Hogwarts in the fall.”

-x-x-x-

Rowan was waiting for her back in the common room and demanded to hear about every bit of the conversation.

“Well,” Rowan said an hour later. “It’s good you’re not being expelled, and it’s great he gave you fifty points! I didn’t know breaking the rules could be so rewarding.”

Lili laughed. She could always count on Rowan to cheer her up and prioritize the right things.

Exams started not much later. As they always did, Rowan’s study sessions were life savers. Lili felt that she could do some of the spells in her sleep with how frequently Rowan made her study them. She made tiny mistakes in Potions and Herbology, but by this point, Lili had expected that. They were by far her worst classes.

The day before the End of Term Feast, Rowan came bounding up to her, talking a mile a minute.

Lili had spent the day with Penny and Ben, as Rowan was going to some Gobstones Club party. Because she was Rowan, she had brought one of her books on ciphers with her and was reading it between talking with people. Near the end of the book she had come across a specific cipher that matched the runes from the icy corridor. She had left the party early, and ran across the castle to the Clocktower Courtyard.

“_I figured it out! I figured it out_!” She howled waving her book in one hand, and a piece of paper in the other. “_The Ice Knight stands guard past the Vanished Stairs. That’s what the code says! I figured it out!_”

It took another five minutes to calm Rowan down enough and get her speaking at an understandable rate. When Lili finally grasped what Rowan was saying, she whooped and picked Rowan up in a hug.

“Rowan, you’re the most brilliant person I know!”

Rowan laughed in embarrassment and her face was slightly red when Lili set her down, but she looked pleased.

Lili’s mood continued to soar as the End of Term Feast started. Lili’s points had given Slytherin an advantage, and Slytherin won the house cup. She grinned at seeing the Great Hall done up in green and silver. She cheered alongside the rest of her house, and felt like she properly belonged there for the first time that year.

Ben joined her and Rowan on the train ride back, and all three friends promised to write to each other over the summer. Or rather, Rowan promised to send her family’s owl to Lili and Ben and let them use it to reply, and Lili and Ben promised to send each other letters through the post. Penny popped in and wished them a good summer, and gave them all some chocolate frogs before leaving to talk to more people.

She waved goodbye to her friends as they left the train, and not even seeing her mother could dampen her mood. The two were silent as they walked to her mother’s car, but Lili’s thoughts were elsewhere, back at Hogwarts. She’d return there soon with all her friends. She’d be closer to figuring out the mystery of the Cursed Vaults and her vision. She’d find some clue about her brother and whether he was alive or dead.

Lili couldn’t wait.


End file.
